Moving Time
by Double
Summary: Tezuka left for Germany and returns in high school 3rd year to lead his team into Nationals once more. But relationships between members are swirling into chaos, personal emotions a stronger opponent than any. Will they win again? TezuFuji GP MomoRyo
1. Prologue

**_Moving Time _**

**_Prologue_**

The graduation ceremony that year brought an unwelcome surprise to the Seigaku tennis team regulars, like speeding along an empty highway in a sports car, with everything so smooth and uneventful, until the brakes decide to step down on itself and the whole lot comes to a screeching halt. The driver's body lunges forward colliding with the windshield, crashing through, falling into unconsciousness.

Time stops at that moment.

Time stopped for the Seigaku tennis regulars, mostly of who looked forward to another three years of glory in the Seigaku high school tennis team in their formidable once-in-a-hundred-years agglomeration.

Tezuka Kunimitsu, who had previously rejected the offer to Germany, suddenly announced that he was taking up the rare opportunity after all.

That was only natural. Anyone in their right mind would go, and the other team members should have nothing to say. Only that it was not a good feeling when you thought you have won over the devil called departure, then to have it come dancing back mockingly in your face. The regulars would not have been half as sad as then if that damn Tezuka had decided to go in the first place.

And the worst thing is that you couldn't even voice your frustration.

"Congratulations, Tezuka. I just knew that you wouldn't have let such a good chance go to waste." "Don't get your ass kicked over there!" "I sure do envy you."

Fuji Shuusuke didn't want to recall his expression right then. Must've been as comforting and sympathetic as his usual smiley face, anyway.

Tezuka did not utter as much as one reply, until the next day at the airport, when people's faces were rid of most of the awkwardness. Clever Tezuka, never one to solve problems in the heat, but rather waits for it to cool down into his own zone, before attempting to take control. A little underhanded and infuriating in this case.

But Oishi Shuichirou only knew this disposition too well to criticize, being the one who normally prided in behaving even more levelheaded than the captain himself, thus earning the "Mother of Seigaku tennis" nickname. He now understood Eiji's feelings, and why the latter called him a "sneaky bastard," when he though it was only sensible to dodge a situation that came rushing at you at 200 mph.

Tezuka's last words before he boarded seemed to set the clock ticking again.

"Wait for me. I'll come back in the third year of high school, and we'll scale the nationals together one more time. Before that, don't any of you dare to slack off. Ryuzaki sensei, please watch over them for me."

A deep bow, and the almost pleading posture and tone, was enough to let everyone relinquish the last bits of bitterness. Honestly, though, it was really not possible for anyone to hate Tezuka. Even ice walls have their charms, and unfortunately, all the Seigaku tennis team seemed to have the same unique taste.

Echizen Ryoma shuddered upon seeing this little realization being written on Inui Sadaharu's notebook. He was NOT attached to that freak of nature captain in any way. So what if there was a little loss on hearing his departure? He was definitely not going to cry on someone's shoulder like Momoshiro Takeshi sempai did on his.

"Looks like I have no way to refuse, have I?" Coach Ryuzaki Sumire shrugged, "This is, after all, the only serious request that I have ever received from out all noble captain. Ha, looks like I'm going to have to go through high school like once again."

"Nyaaa! I just knew it! The bonds between this year's Seigaku regulars, the invincible team, are stronger than anything in the world!" Kikumaru Eiji pumped his fists into the air, knocking hard into his Golden partner's head on the way. "Don't worry, Tezuka, we will just be where you left us."

Rolling his eyes (although no one could really see under those thick glasses), Inui methodically corrected Kikumaru's words, which as always, did not go through the brain. "We will improve as much as you do, so that when you come back, we'll still be a team worthy of you."

"Fssshh…" was all Kaidou Kaoru said, or could have in any case.

Kawamura Taka smiled somewhat forlornly, "Even though I can't be on the tennis team anymore, I'll still make the largest banners, and make the best sushi for you all."

"What are you saying?" Momoshiro clapped the shy sempai hard on the shoulders, "One day in Seigaku, always in Seigaku. You'll always be part of the team. And that goes for you too, Tezuka bucho! Our perfect team will be awaiting thy return!" and to emphasize his sincerity, did a dramatic salute.

That, at last, managed to elicit the slightest upturn on Tezuka's firm lips.

"From Tokyo to Berlin, flight F0493, last call. From Tokyo to Berlin…"

"Guess this is it, then. Don't anyone say goodbye. We'll all be waiting for your return." With a thumb up sign, Oishi gave his long time friend a hard pat. Others followed suit, and despite the friendliness, Tezuka was sure he was going to get a bruise on his back. Well, couldn't be worse than Inui's –

"WOW!! I never knew you were so open, Fujiko-chan!" Eiji literally whistled.

Tezuka blinked. And blinked again, until those slender arms unwound themselves from his neck. Was that…

"A parting kiss, Tezuka." Fuji all but beamed in his usual innocent way. "You'd better get used to it. Isn't this part of the Caucasian manners?"

Having all your energy suddenly evaporated was an understatement. Tezuka covered the tingling spot on his cheek, and before anyone could see the blush forming, abruptly turned and walked towards the boarding gate.

"YO! We'll be waiting for you, bucho!! See ya in another 2 years!!"

"SEIGAKU FOREVER!!"

Tezuka hurriedly handed over his boarding pass to the stewardess, and almost crashed his head onto his chest upon meeting her understanding smile, which spelled "It's ok, homosexuality is nothing to be ashamed of." Damn that Fuji… Fled would have been a good word to describe his descent down the passage leading to the plane.

"Well, let's get back. We've got to start practicing, lest Tezuka becomes stronger than he already freakin' is."

"Hm, mada mada dane."

They were the perfect year, the perfect team that only came once every hundred years. Nothing could tear the bonds, not distance, not change of hearts, and not even time. The saying "everything has an end" did not apply to them.

The Seigaku team was eternal.

"That was the first time I saw Tezuka being scared away by something. You really are incredible, Fujiko-chan."

"Hmm… Souka na?"


	2. Early Return of Tezuka Kunimitsu

I am not a pro in tennis or anything, so if there's any mistakes or unrealistic parts in my descriptions of the game, I'll be grateful if you could correct me. Thank you.

**Chapter 1 – Early Return of Tezuka Kunimitsu**

"…let's wish that the new school year will be even more achieving than the last. This concludes the entering ceremony. New students please report to their respective homerooms. You are dismissed."

Echizen Ryoma unfastened the top button of his uniform and heaved a sign of relief. He swore the collar was attempting to strangle him.

"Echizen!! I've caught you!" And without warning, a 65 kg weight landed itself on the short boy's back.

"How many times have I told you NOT to use your stupid mass on me, even though I understand it's the only thing you can possibly win over me?" Ryoma spun around, trying to get the giant octopus off him to no avail. God was definitely playing dice, because if he had put the slightest brain into calculations in creating men, then there would be no reason a tennis genius like himself would fall victim to dwarfism. Sure, he had grown since junior high, but rising into senior high with a height of 165 cm was the last thing to be proud of.

"Oh, but I miss you so much!" The oaf on top of him, named Momoshiro, gave one last tight squeeze before finally letting go of his prey. "Echizen, welcome to high school! But don't expect the high school team to be so slack as the junior high one. Underestimate it, and you'll have a hard time. It certainly would take some getting used to, dropping suddenly from the oldest to the freshman, and also, the high school tennis world is many times stronger than junior high. Difference in stamina is the least to say. Even that mamushi found his match when we just got here."

"Is that so?" Ryoma shrugged nonchalantly, "then I take it as you lost pretty badly when you entered high school, huh?"

Momoshiro flushed full force. "Oi! I was only being careless! I'm on the regulars too, now, you know?"

"Sure, sure, but come brag to me after you've beaten me. You lost two games yesterday, need I remind you?"

"Ouch, gaining a sarcastic side, aren't we?"

"Ochibi!!" Ryoma winced as he caught sight of another disastrous being flouncing over, "Haha, looks like I don't have to worry about changing your nickname! You are still has chibi as ever!"

"And now our tennis team has finally gathered, eh?" Oishi smiled good-naturedly beside his bouncing partner.

"You're forgetting bucho." Momoshiro said, slinging an arm over the growling chibi, "But since the preliminaries and regional matches only start around the spring time in April, guess he won't be back until then."

"Talk about gathering, but where's Fuji? It's not like him to miss the welcoming."

"Nya, who knows? But let's head to Taka's sushi store right now! He can meet up later!" Kikumaru latched onto Ryoma's arm and pulled him along. "You're the star of the day, so I'm sure Taka-san will make anything for you. Mm… my stomach's already complaining!"

Shaking his head at Eiji's whine, Oishi mused how his partner hadn't seemed to grow one bit through all these years. But that's his charm, isn't it? The way he hung around you creating nothing but noise, yet you wouldn't feel annoyed at all. That was the Kikumaru charisma which he, Oishi Shuichirou, had blissfully fallen for when they played their first game together. Like fly to honey, he was stuck, literally and psychologically, and as of now there seemed to be no effective rehabilitation for the Kikumaru addiction in sight.

"Oishi! Faster faster! You are really growing old!" Spotting that the taller boy was lagging behind, Kikumaru leaped back and latched onto his arm. "Quick! I'm not having such a slowpoke for my partner! Hurry, or I'm going to kiss you!" and promptly stuck out his pink tongue.

Oishi choked, and almost coughed his heart out of his mouth, not that it wasn't far from jumping out already. "Ei… Eiji… Don't joke about stuff like that…" or else you're tempting me to eat you.

"But Momo-chan always threatens Kaidou like that, and it works like magic!"

"… everyone is different." And you are probably too innocent to understand the implications. It wasn't that he was afraid to confess the romantic feelings he had for Eiji (and yes, he had come to the realization long ago. He wasn't as rock-headed as he looked), but rather… more than the fear of being rejected (which was highly impossible even to a conservative mind such as he), Eiji was still a child, and… well… he didn't want to "pollute the innocent." He didn't want Eiji to change from his carefree self.

Ahem, well, that was embarrassing.

Kikumaru huffed at Oishi's apparent awkwardness, and as if on purpose, twined their hands together and started dragging him forward. "I would've kissed you someday. I really wonder what kissing Oishi would feel like, if it's as frightening and gross as Kaidou described it. But then, what experience does he have in kissing anyway? Perhaps I should ask Fuji, since he kissed Tezuka that time…"

Oishi was between blushing, laughing outright like a lovesick idiot, and bursting into tears.

………………………………………

The aforementioned missing genius had really wanted to go welcome the team's youngest member, if not for the fact that he couldn't really move from his seat, ever since the door was pulled open a few seconds ago.

"Ah, so you are Tezuka Kunimitsu. It's not very good to be late the first day of school."

"Sorry, the plane was delayed."

"I see, you're the kid from Germany. Well, then, first times are tolerable. Go pick a seat."

"Thank you."

That same deep voice, and the ever-unchanging poker face… This illusion was too real. Fuji groaned and slapped his cheeks, then reopened his eyes. The Tezuka hologram wasn't disappearing, but rather, coming towards him.

"Your face is turning red." The "thing" towered above a gaping Fuji and commented.

Flustered, Fuji shot back, "That's because I just hit it."

"I know." He bent down, and before Fuji's excellent athletic nerves could respond, lightly grazed his lips over one burning cheek. "It's been a long time."

"Te… Tezuka?! You're the real Tezuka?" Fuji stammered, now blushing for real. It seemed that Tezuka's breath was still tickling his ear, efficiently blocking away the squeals from surrounding girls who saw the scene. "No… that Tezuka won't ever do something like this."

A tinge of colour rose to Tezuka's face, "That's for returning the courtesy you showed me before I left." The powerful thing was that Fuji couldn't even tell if he was meaning that seriously or just teasing him.

BAM! For the first time ever, Fuji fainted from his own sadistic joke.

………………………………………

"You came back pretty early. Even though you did say it would be in the third year, but we all expected it to be just before the start of preliminaries, or like the last nationals, where you just popped up on the day to draw for competition sequences." Having finally recovered from the initial shock, and accepted the fact that this was Tezuka Kunimitsu before his eyes, Fuji started chatting on with an easy pace, all in the world as if the two years apart had never happened.

Tezuka let a smile escape. This familiar route going down to Kawamura's sushi, and the consistent company Fuji provided, were all as if true to Kikumaru's words that everything would be where he left them. He felt like a fish finally melding back into the ocean, and could breathe again. This was where he belonged, a world that would accept him anytime. Nothing had changed, not even Fuji, his height, the length of his hair, his ever smiling face…

"You haven't grown any taller since graduation." Tezuka voiced his observations.

"Yeah, I guess my growth sprout just sparked really early, then flashed and died off. I'm surprised you actually noticed."

"Because your uniform collar was always aligned with the top of the fence back there, and you haven't seemed to have overgrown it."

"Picking at my weak spots, aren't you? Since you look even taller than before." Fuji accused, his smile gaining a dangerous glint.

"No, I'm just glad that you haven't changed." Tezuka turned to his companion and smiled nostalgically, successfully killing off any potentially fatal rebukes Fuji had in mind. Tezuka's smiles were rare, so when it appeared, was able to make girls within 10 meters radius swoon without fail, which was why it was infamously labeled the killer smile in junior high. Right then, with the smile all focused on Fuji alone, it was forgivable that the latter felt a bit lightheaded.

"Looks like you really are happy to be back. As a fact, you've already smiled your month's share of smiles all in one day. For a while, I was actually worried that Germany would be too exciting for you to give up, just for a high school tennis team." Fuji sobered down a little from the usual way-too-cheery expression, so that his blue eyes caught some of the late day's sunshine, and then reflected them back out in a totally different form. "That's why I was so surprised that you came back early. Was Germany no fun at all?"

Tezuka stiffened, then replied, "Somewhat."

The difficult silence that ensued was not to Fuji's liking. Great job, spoiling his mood when he seems happier than he had ever been. You really must be sadistic, Fuji Shuusuke.

"Anyway, our team's finally back together again. We are holding a welcome party for Echizen today, but looks like we'll have to double that. Taka's going to go broke just treating us today."

"Hm." Tezuka managed to utter a syllable.

Perhaps going back to Japan would be good for you. There is something missing in your tennis, and at this rate, you're never going to…

He was back. Regardless of what had happened, the real Tezuka Kunimitsu was back.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a while." Tezuka apologized, noticing that Fuji wasn't talking anymore. He hadn't realized that he missed Fuji's voice so much. Reaching up slightly, he gently ruffed the other's hair, and decided to be honest. "It's ok, keep talking. I'll listen."

Fuji stared up at him. "Are you sure you went to Germany and not France? If you used to talk like this, girls would swarm over you and literally eat you alive."

Tezuka returned the gaze, obviously uncomprehending.

By this point, Kawamura's sushi was already in sight. Just the look on the others' faces was going to be a great show, and Fuji wasn't feeling one bit guilty for wanting to enjoy the performance. Getting a step faster, Fuji pushed open the restaurant door.

"Yo! Look who's here at last!" Momoshiro shouted through the rowdiness with Echizen's head locked under his arm as if they had just been wrestling. "And Taka-san even made you two dozen of wasabi sushi! I ate one by mistake, and oh man! You have some problems with your tastebuds, Fuji-sempai."

"Fssh, just shows how stupid you are."

"What did you say?!"

Inui looked over at Fuji, and promptly shuddered. His smile has risen by 0.5 cm, and this usually happened whenever he saw someone faint from the power of his Inui brand juices. Since he had nothing in hand today, that means…

"I've brought someone with me." Fuji said, all smiles.

"Your girlfriend? When did you get one?" Kikumaru popped up, interested, then froze in midair.

Tezuka stepped in, and nodded to the stock-still bunch. If his team were always this quiet, then he would not have migraines half as much.

Only Echizen was too haughty to show any surprise, and retaliated Fuji nonchalantly, "I never knew you swing that way, Fuji-sempai."

"Fssh… Fssh… Fsshh!" Kaidou sounded like a kettle of water that had just boiled.

"Oh my God, OH MY GOD! Call Ryuzaki-sensei! It's an emergency!" Momoshiro grabbed his cell phone and fumbled for a good 30 seconds before he successfully dialed the number.

Someone suddenly slammed into Tezuka, and it took him a moment to realize that it was a hug from Oishi. "I knew you'd be back! I just knew it!" The vice-captain's voice was somewhat choked.

"Oishi, you crybaby." Kikumaru laughed, and tore him away from Tezuka.

"Everybody! Ryuzaki-sensei said to meet back at the school's tennis courts! She's got something to tell us about the new rules for the Nationals this year." Momoshiro stood on a chair and hollered. "Let's go welcome bucho there with our tennis skills!"

A teary eyed Kawamura accidentally came into contact with a tennis racquet. "Burning! I'll be the first one to have a match with bucho! My blood is heating up! LET"S GO!!"

………………………………………

"Best of one set match! Echizen service play!"

Echizen ended up being Tezuka's first opponent, after Fuji had prompted that they should let the "tender" ones go first. It was to everyone's hope to see a showdown between the two strongest on the team, therefore, much to Echizen's displeasure, he became the unanimously acknowledged "tender" kid.

"HA!" With a shout, Echizen played his famous twist serve, the ball spinning twice as vigorous as before.

Tezuka stepped back, and carefully negating some of the spin, hit it back long and hard towards the baseline. Moving in split steps, Echizen caught the ball and made a surprisingly high volley to the front of the court, yet he did not move from the baseline after that.

Smash or drop? The former would certainly give the opponent longer time to respond, if he stood at the baseline. A fast drop shot then. Echizen's fast reaction and split step may catch the drop before it hits the ground.

Tezuka jumped up, made a false action to smash, and only saw Echizen move forward one step. He won't make it. Changing the position of his wrist, he sliced with less power so that it would fall faster.

"Zero drop sho –" Before the crowd could exclaim, Echizen gave a burst of speed to rush up to the net. He didn't make it before the ball hit the ground, but the ball that was not supposed to bounce back up under the zero drop shot disobediently lifted itself, just enough for the diving Echizen to throw his racket under and drop it over the net before Tezuka could land firmly from his jump.

"15 – love!" Oishi announced, a little shocked the zero drop shot could even be broken.

"The zero drop shot doesn't rebound because of its strong backspin, but since Tezuka subdued the spin in order for it to fall faster, and the ball has such a height, chances of rebounding becomes larger than zero." Inui muttered, jotting down in his notebook. "Echizen has been practicing and calculating, hasn't he?"

Echizen served again, this time a normal slice. The two kept up the rallying from the baseline, neither taking an initiative in attacking. The younger boy on the court frowned. There were excellent chances for Tezuka to use Tezuka's zone, but for some reason the other kept the move locked up. Fine, since he didn't want to use that, then he'll…

"A lob? Tezuka knows better than to smash down –"

But Tezuka really did. Echizen dashed, slid, and leaped up. "DRIVE B!"

"30 – love!"

The game was pretty much one-sided after that, and Echizen did not even need to do anything more than his regular moves (those were killer moves, but then, that was Tezuka we are talking about) to score. Strangely, the captain did not even once show his original attacks after the zero drop shot, and was playing as any regular guy, strong and perfect in every move but nothing special.

"Game Echizen! 2 – 0, Echizen lead!" At the rate Tezuka was playing, it was no surprise that Echizen broke his service.

"What is bucho doing? Is this on purpose or something?" A more than dumb folded Momoshiro asked, but nobody in the crowd had the answer.

Fuji frowned, and heard a sigh from beside him. "Ryuzaki-sensei, you're here."

The older woman's expressions were no better, until finally, as if she couldn't stand seeing Tezuka in such a state anymore, shouted, "That's all for today! You two, stop it! If you want to have a match with Tezuka, then wait until he's in better conditions, and not trying to recover from 15 hours of plane ride and force his body to fight you when it should be sleeping."

Echizen dropped the ball quite dutifully, and retreated back into the team without another word.

"Yeah! That must be why. Really, bucho, you shouldn't play easy on us. It's not like we're going to sell your information or anything." Kikumaru joked, bringing some half-hearted laughs and easing the tension a bit.

"How inconsiderate we are! We should've let bucho have a good rest first." The nice Kawamura repented, but Tezuka made no reply.

Coach Ryuzaki coughed, "Anyway, I called you guys here not only because of Tezuka, but also, I just received the new regulations for the Nationals this year, and we'll be fixing our training plans somewhat." That finally managed to divert the focus away from Tezuka.

"What else could be there, other than the prefectural, regional, and then Nationals?" Oishi voiced.

"Well, as you know, in high school Nationals, it's not only team competitions. There are individual tournaments for singles, doubles and teams, the last of which is held first. Those schools that have entered the Nationals successfully can then nominate as many players from their regulars into the singles and doubles tournament. In the past years, all the tournaments have been under the elimination match system, but this year, for the singles and doubles at the top 32, it would become group matches."

"Group matches? You mean splitting players into groups and they have to compete with every one of the other players in the same group?"

"Yes. It is said to increase fairness, so that a good player would not be eliminated just because he did not perform well on that particular day. There's good and bad, but it certainly let you come into contact with more players, and would provide a good experience. Therefore, I've decided to make use of this opportunity to let you guys explore your limits. Does anyone have objections to that?" Coach Ryuzaki asked rhetorically, craftily leading the tennis players into her trap.

"No."

"Good. Then get into the Nationals, then I will enlist everyone of you into both singles and doubles tournament." The old woman beamed.

"What?! Both? Are you trying to kill us?" Momoshiro reacted, "These tournaments, along with the team one, takes place all at the SAME time! How are we supposed to spread ourselves? We're not butter."

"Yeah! I don't think ochibi can stand even one game playing doubles. We'll become laughing stock!" Kikumaru whined.

"Don't worry. I'm not expecting you guys to win out in the competitions you are not specialized in. It would definitely be more challenging, but who's afraid of that, eh? I just want you to see more types of playing styles, and for some of us here, learn the word 'cooperation'." She looked pointedly at Echizen, Tezuka and Momoshiro. "You can grow stronger by attempting something you are not good at, and lose. Remember how much Kikumaru improved during the period Oishi hurt his wrist? That's the idea. So now everybody get a doubles partner. We'll be doing doubles practices in the pairs you've chosen."

"Fssh… I'll play with Inui-sempai." Kaidou spoke up first. He did promise Inui to play doubles together, as long ago as it may be. And anything was better than being matched up with Momoshiro.

Inui agreed, practically beaming on the inside.

"Shoot, he got to pick first." Momoshiro cursed, and looked at the remaining options – Tezuka, Fuji, Kawamura and Echizen. The former two were out of question, unless he was masochistic. Surveying the latter two, Momoshiro then promptly jumped on Echizen. "Yo, Echizen, it's high time we get back into our partnership, isn't it?"

"I'm fine with anything." The youngest member replied, lukewarm as always.

Three people left. Fuji looked towards his usual partner, Kawamura, but the latter laughed it off. "I'm sorry, Fuji, but you know I haven't been focusing on tennis in high school, since I have to apprentice for a cook. I'll only be a burden to you and the team, so I'll only be going to support you guys this year."

Oishi patted him on the shoulder. "Then you will come to every match that our members are in. You are our source of power, right?"

"BURNING!" Momoshiro and Kikumaru cheered in unison.

Fuji turned to look at Tezuka. Tezuka looked back, and blinked.

"So, it's the two of us, eh? Let's have a nice partnership." The top two players of the team shook hands formally and sealed the pact.

"Ok, that's that." Coach Ryuzaki boomed. "Everyone MUST come for practice tomorrow, or penal tea would be waiting. With this prolonged match schedule, the prefectural competitions will be starting sooner, in March. That's only 5 months away! Anyone who dares to slack off, I'll personally be chopping his head off, understood?"

"Yes sir!" The Seigaku tennis team chorused, nine voices together just like two years ago. Nothing could break them up, and they are proving it.

After the enthusiasm died down a little, Coach Ryuzaki walked over to Tezuka, none of her earlier joking manner. "Come to my office."

Eyes trailing after the two leaving figures, Momoshiro whispered, "Who think Tezuka-bucho looks weird?"

Eight hands shot up into the air.


	3. Takahashi Alex

_**Merry X'mas, everyone!!  
There's going to be lots of tennis, and the creation of an OC in this chapter, as you probably notice from the title. Hope everyone likes Takahashi. I need to create more opponents for them to set up for the nationals, ne?  
As you can see, the story follows the manga plot, and everything about the international matches with Amerian team is left out (I only knew there were such episodes recently...) **_

**_It would be great to get some feedback about Takahashi. Also, a vote for pairings here. Which would you prefer? (It would perhaps affect what you read later)  
Oshitari Yuushi x Atobe Keigo  
Atobe Keigo x Jiroh + Oshitari x Mukahi Gakuto  
Tachibana x Ibu Shinji or Ibu Shinji x Kamio Akira or none for Fudomine_**

_**Chapter 2 – Takahashi Alex**_

_"So this is the kid the coach brought all the way from Japan? Looks like he's on top of the world, eh? Not even bothering to acknowledge us. So what if he's all great in that small piece of Asian land? We'll show him who's boss here." A bulky boy stalked over to my direction. I wasn't ignoring them on purpose, just that German does not know me, and I was not the type to get ideas across using body language. _

_"Hey, newcomer, wanna go for a match?" He pointed to the court with his tennis racket. At least that was clear enough. _

_I nodded curtly and followed him onto the court. _

_The opponent was strong, which was to be expected from the world-class tennis training school, but he was definitely not Sanada or Atobe. I considered using the Selfless State, then decided against it. That was saved for better opponents, the ones like I met in Nationals… _

_"Oi! What the hell are you doing? Don't play around with me and show me your best! If this is all you've got, then don't cry after I beat the crap out of you!" The guy on the other side sneered. Such insolence. Even Kikumaru and Echizen had better manners. _

_It was certainly not worth it to waste the Selfless State on such an enemy. Something about him just bugged me, setting my sensibility on fire and leaving only ashes that were immature stubbornness in me. I despised him, more than any hideous rival I'd seen in Japan, more than St. Rudolph's Mizuki, Hika Secondary's Kite, and even those thugs of Shishigaku Secondary who took to bullying little girls like Chitose Miyuki. _

_However, this repulsion did not boost up my fighting spirit like before, but rather, was so intense that I lost any interest in even trying against the opponent. _

_"Game Michael, 6 – 2!" Someone shouted from the sidelines, and the match was over when my thoughts were still in reverie. The captain losing his focus in competition, what would the others' faces be if they knew this? _

_Strangely, I didn't mind losing. I was just relieved to be free from that scum on the other end. _

_"What was coach thinking?! This guy is such a weakling! Did you see how I smashed him? Brilliant, wasn't it?" Uproarious laughter started up, and I walked away. _

The alarm clock rang, and Tezuka woke up on the second chime. He looked at the source of malicious noise a little gratefully, then turned it off.

Those things were already left back in Germany, and this is Japan.

There was morning practice today. He'd better hurry. People were waiting for him.

………………………………………

"Momoshiro! Echizen! You two are late for the first practice! 20 laps around the school!" Tezuka ordered, once he caught sight of the two of the younger members trying to sneak into the courts.

Momoshiro scratched his head sheepishly, and tried to reason, "Sorry, bucho, but it's the first day of school, and 6 a.m. You've gotta let us get used back into school life."

"No excuses. All the others are here on time, even the other first years!" Tezuka remained stony as usual.

"I'm late only because of Momo-sempai. He was late in picking me up." Echizen tossed a glare at the taller boy, or his personal chauffeur for the past three years.

Tezuka frowned, "Then couldn't you have left without him?"

Echizen started, as if that thought never occurred to him, then lowered his cap and began jogging wordlessly.

"Yo! Echizen, wait up!" And off sped Momoshiro to catch up.

Tezuka frowned deeper. Weren't they unwilling to run?

Fuji ambled over, and having caught this scene, commented, "Those two rockheads." Tezuka looked questioningly at him, only to be bestowed with the ever-famous "Tezuka, you rockhead."

He never knew he didn't actually mind being called a rockhead…

"Tezuka, can we talk for a minute?" Fuji suddenly asked, although his tone did not make it into a question. Those blue eyes pierced into Tezuka for a second, and the latter knew better than to refuse Fuji when he was serious.

"Fine, but just for a while. You have to practice too."

"Of course, bucho." Fuji beamed. "Somewhere private?" And without needing a reply, dragged him out of the courts.

It was only 6 in the morning, a time when people of the right minds would never be in school, therefore, it was reasonably easy to find a bench away from curious or lovesick glances. Fuji made Tezuka sit down, then stood in front of him, finally being able to level above his captain for the first time all those years. From the weird aura that was emitting from Fuji's compassionate smile, Tezuka strangely felt like a trapped prey.

"Ok, now talk." Fuji was straight to the point, "What was with the match yesterday with Echizen? How exactly is your condition now?"

"You don't seem like the type to pry, Fuji." Tezuka deftly avoided the question.

"And neither did I know you were to type to escape from things." Fuji retorted, then with a mixture of childish scheming and the unique Fuji threatening stance, placed his hands firmly on both sides of Tezuka's face, and by force, turned it around to face him again. "If it is only for me, I wouldn't have touched your personal thoughts with a five feet pole, but the whole team is depending on you now, and it's no longer your place to be selfish."

Tezuka cast his eyes down, then lightly covered the colder hands placed by his face and gently trapped them within his own. "What good would it do even if I tell you, other than letting you worry?"

"You are being stubborn and impossible! I know you would want to die on the tennis court if left to your own devises, but think about us! Yes, we need you to be strong in order to support the whole team, but more than that we care for you as friends." Great job, Fuji Shuusuke, you just managed to sound like the most cliché drama out there.

"Then do you want me to throw my weaknesses out there and beg for pity?"

"It is not begging for pity! The last thing people connect to Tezuka Kunimitsu is weak, even if you've lost. It's… it's just… trust us, and let's work anything out together, ok?" Fuji was torn between wanting to give him a hug, or bang him on the head for being a rock.

Tezuka fell silent, hunching over in the thinking pose, all the while latching onto Fuji's hands unconsciously. Unable to move in fear of disrupting his captain, Fuji could only freeze on the spot, feeling Tezuka's warmth creep up his own hands, marveling at how the light bounced off his hair, how much broader his shoulders had grown in the past two years, and how… how from their positions, that it seemed as if Tezuka was proposing to him…

Even winter days could be hot, couldn't it? At least that was how Fuji was feeling right then.

"Fuji…" Tezuka's voice came as a whisper, "I… can no longer initiate the selfless state."

"Wha--?! How?"

"BUCHO! FUJI-SEMPAI! Something terrible!" Horio suddenly barged into the scene, screaming in his broken voice. "Some blond guy just walked into our courts and challenged us, and now Momo-sempai and Inui-sempai have all been beaten!"

Tezuka leaped up and dashed towards the courts. Fuji followed suit, feeling a huge migraine coming up.

"Is this enough for me to become a regular?" A deep voice vibrated through the grounds, and Momoshiro glared fierce and vicious towards the intruder. His Japanese was perfect, which was why Fuji was so shocked to see a pure Englishman standing in front of them, with the stereotypical fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes. The type that would make girls shriek on sight.

"Isn't this what you promised? That I'd become a regular if I can beat two of you." He was smiling civil enough, but the smile was too familiar that it sent shivers up Fuji's spine. That was the smile he saw everyday in the mirror.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what my members promised, but entering the tennis club requires my approval, not theirs." Tezuka interjected before Momoshiro could do anything rash. "Please give me your entering application, and you'll have to win in the ranking matches before you can become a regular."

The stranger cocked his head and looked at Tezuka with interest. "You must be the Tezuka Kunimitsu everyone talks about. Sorry for my abruptness, my name is Takahashi Alex, and I'm joining Seigaku high school as a third year. Nice to meet you."

So he's a mixed blood…

Tezuka was hardly the person to be moved by courtesy, and gave a curt nod of acknowledgement. "The application form is in the extra-curriculum office, you can hand it in to Ryuzaki-sensei, me, or Oishi fukubucho."

"Aww… but isn't there a faster way? Wouldn't it be ok if I just prove myself strong enough?" Those azure eyes sparkled cunningly, "Such as… if I can win against Tezuka-bucho over here. Hypothetical, of course."

"Yeah, in your dreams, you blondie!" Momoshiro yelled from the sidelines.

"Please call me Takahashi." The edge in his voice cut through the air and rested on Momoshiro's throat, and a dangerous blue flame alighted at the back of his eyes. "I am Japanese like all of you, so please ignore the defects of my appearance."

Just count on Momo to make this guy really mad. Fuji was beyond exasperation.

"It would be a great honour if Tezuka-bucho would give me some advices in my playing." Takahashi twirled his racket, and before Tezuka could respond, set it like a top on the ground. "Which?"

Out of pure instincts, Tezuka answered, "Rough."

Oh, Tezuka you rockhead.

"Smooth. May I serve?" He had already taken his position while asking. Forced onto the spot, Tezuka could only get his racket and stand in preparation stance. Fuji grimaced. If what Tezuka said earlier were true, then…

"I'll try to stop the match if the situation gets bad, but try not to let others see through about your… injury. At least not in front of outsiders." Fuji whispered on passing Tezuka, and was about to saunter away when the captain grabbed his arm.

Black eyes bore into Fuji with a hint of coldness known as disappointment. "You don't have confidence in me?"

Fuji was struck silent for a moment, and Tezuka let go, turning to face the flashing golden hair on the other end.

"I promise you I won't lose. I won't let anyone break up our team."

………………………………………

"30 – 15!"

"That's it, bucho! Don't give him a chance to use his stupid counters!" Momoshiro cheered on, especially enthusiastic to see their captain avenging his earlier loss, which of course, was only because he slighted the opponent.

"But you have to admit he's an amazing counter style player." Inui commented, earning a distinctive sniff from Fuji. The former seemed to not have heard, and continued, "By using counters, you can hit back the attack the opponent thinks would surely score, therefore, catching the latter off guard. This makes power a less dominant factor in playing a good counter move, making it suitable for people of smaller builds, such as Fuji. However, it is already difficult enough to retaliate a full power attack, and much more so if you want to return it into a position out of reach, which is why counters often lack power."

The Caucasian blood in Takahashi gave him a towering height advantage, which enabled him to make lightning serves like Ootori of Hyotei. Tezuka took one step back from the mid court in anticipation of the next serve.

"You don't have to do that. My serves are really weak." Takahashi offered, then tossed the ball high up and hit it lightly like an armature, sending it flying hectically into the sky and looking as if it won't even cross the net.

Chance ball! It was extremely suspicious for a player like Takahashi to make such a mistake, but trap or not, and even though he was not Momoshiro, there were still very few people who could return his smashes. Let's see what the intruder had up his sleeves. Tezuka sped to the front and leaped.

"Shit! Bucho! Don't smash!" Momoshiro shouted, momentarily forgetting the rule for audiences to refrain from advising.

Tezuka's feet hadn't even touched the ground when the ball whizzed fast and hard past his face. "Higuma Otoshi?" That was how it seemed just judging from Takahashi's ending posture, but Higuma Otoshi returns a smash using a lob, not passing shot. Even the more powerful Kirin Otoshi was just a more advanced lob that falls faster, making opponents harder to make it in time. That counter ball just now… did not have any force of the smash negated. No, it was more powerful than the smash itself.

"40 – 15!"

Inui's glasses glinted. "Did you see what happened, Fuji?"

"Ahh…" The feeling of having your move copied, morphed, and reinforced beyond your recognition was not something pleasant.

"That's my version of the Higuma Otoshi, or rather, Higuma Zensoku (full speed). Does the original creator find it satisfactory?" Takahashi said cheerily, slightly bowing in Fuji's direction. "I'm a big fan of counter moves, so when I heard about the prodigy Fuji Shuusuke's brilliant counters, I set about analyzing and making them into my own."

"Please continue on with the match." Tezuka commanded.

Takahashi gave a sheepish laugh. "Sorry, I'm just too excited. To think that I would be able to fight side by side with such incredible players."

"Che, who wants to partner with him, that copycat." Momoshiro huffed.

"He's not simply copying. Because of his much stronger build, he does not need to cancel out the force of the smash. Instead, he uses the classic turn in Higuma Otoshi to strengthen the return. He catches the ball before the turn, then immediately turns to let the ball stay on the racket surface, thus adding the centrifugal force to the opponent's smash. By flicking his wrist at the right moment during the turn, he sends out the ball with much more speed and it has already dashed past before the opponent could respond." Inui set off another long string of explanations. "Truly clever."

"That sounds totally impossible!" Kikumaru complained. "There's no way Fuji wouldn't have tried that if it's feasible."

"As I said, Takahashi's more Caucasian build, his longer limbs and flexible muscles, creates greater centrifugal force when he turns, and this enables the ball to actually stay on the racket for the Higuma Zensoku to be accomplished. The only other person with similar qualifications I know of is Akutsu Jin."

"Game Takahashi! 1 – 0!"

"It's ok, it's only natural for such a strong player like Takahashi to keep his own service game. Tezuka won't let him break through." Oishi tried calming the atmosphere. It seemed that everyone was particularly tense today, especially the genius of the team, who was gripping the wire net so hard that his knuckles turned white. Perhaps it was because of the possibility of having to admit the stranger into the team that got on everybody's nerves. Tezuka was back, Echizen had risen into high school, and the Seigaku team was finally back together again. Fair as Oishi was in his nature, he still could not find himself accepting the intrusion with open arms, even though it may increase the potential of the team.

It was a beautiful service, and a solid return. Tezuka kept the ball strong and low, keeping the opponent pressed at the baseline, and after a few more rallies…

"Tezuka zone!" Kikumaru cried in triumph.

No matter how many times they had seen it, to have each and every ball swerve and turn towards Tezuka as if pulled by a magnet was still a magnificent sight. The faiths of all the members were drawn in with the tennis ball, into the vortex that was Tezuka Kunimitsu.

Keeping Takahashi still immobile at the baselines, Tezuka sliced steep and hard into the Zero drop shot. It worked to perfection.

"15 – 0!"

Takahashi's eyes widened with surprise, then he laughed. "That was truly something! I'm honoured to have the legendary drop shot used on me."

"So he still has the strength to laugh? Finish him off, bucho!" Momoshiro cheered, and in the next second was knocked to the ground by Echizen, who couldn't take the noise anymore.

"Look! What's that guy doing?" Kikumaru exclaimed, pointing at the extremely high lob Takahashi had just played, after rushing to stalk right in front of the net. It fell easily into the Tezuka zone, was hit back, then the ball was put into a lob again, as if daring Tezuka to smash.

"No a bad plan at all." Inui pushed his glasses, "Playing the lob is relatively easy and free of unforced errors compared to other shots, so when he has the Higuma Zensoku to completely return all smashes, hitting lobs save both energy and reduce risk. By keeping close to the net, he can probably catch the zero drop shot before it contacts the ground. As long as Tezuka has not found a way to break the Higuma Zensoku, he can just keep playing lobs to see who tires out first."

"Fsshh… Slimy bastard."

Another few rallies later, Tezuka managed to shatter the static situation by suddenly dropping the ball right onto the right side line, then immediately follow by a zero drop shot to the left.

"30 – 0!"

"Looks like I gotta move faster, eh?"

The same thing happened with the next ball, only that this time, Takahashi made it on time to break Tezuka's dropping strategy. The lobs continued, each one soaring high above Tezuka's head, blocking the sun, tempting to smash. But he knew he shouldn't, he wasn't the type to attack on impulse, just like the time with Atobe. Even if it would kill him, he'd rather have 100 success rate rather than fall into the opponent's trap. He would play along, and win Atobe in the area the latter was most confident in. So what if there was only disadvantage? It was his match, and it was not a win unless he could beat the opponent solid, in everything. There were no limits for him.

Just because he was Tezuka Kunimitsu.

And he would smash!

The ball blazed back, grazing his ear into a searing pain. And again, and again…

"What is bucho doing?! He can just win without using smashes! Or he can just use Hyakuren Jidoku no Kiwami to crush that blondie! What's he waiting for?" Momoshiro fretted, almost climbing up the wire mesh. "And it's 5 – 3 already!"

Fuji shook his head and gave a bitter smile, "Don't you know him well enough now? That's just Tezuka. He's a rockhead, isn't he?"

"40 – 30! Match point Takahashi!"

He was not going to lose! Faster, just one bit faster, and he would be able to catch up with the ball… Kikumaru would have no problem returning the Higuma Zensoku with his acrobatics. Fuji would definitely think of new counters for it, Inui to see through it with his data, Kaidou to drag out the opponent with his monstrous stamina, Momoshiro to…

Faces of his members came as easily to his mind as second nature, and Tezuka looked at the unfamiliar figure across the net. No, he did not come back to Japan to seek more unknown faces. If… if any one of them were missing, there would be no point at all.

He was the support of all these great players, whom he held almost as precious as tennis itself, and he was not going to disappoint them. He was not losing, NOT losing!

The bright yellow ball came falling down, and Tezuka made a moderate jump and smashed it across. The ball tore back almost as soon as it went over the net, but this time Tezuka was already behind it. A powerful backhand sent it all the way to the opponent's baseline.

"Deuce!"

"The Selfless State…" Fuji murmured, feeling the tingling aura that Tezuka was emitting.

"That is the Shikuji Hou (shrinking land method, literally) of that Okinawa team, isn't it? That's it, way to go, Tezuka! Even though your bones are as stiff as a rusted door hinge, but you can still move faster than that slowpoke of a ball!" Kikumaru bounced, almost leapfrogging over Oishi.

"Perfect timing, and superb execution." Inui praised, "By jumping lower, his feet can get back to the ground faster, and once on the ground, he can easily catch up with the ball using Shikuji Hou. This is the first time I've seen Tezuka use the Selfless State and not Hyakuren Jidoku, though. Luckily he did this, or else by focusing all his power to the left arm, he wouldn't have been able to use back moves that requires the whole body."

"Game Tezuka! 4 – 5!"

With the Higuma Zensoku sealed, it wasn't long before Tezuka won the match. Fuji hung back as others hurried up to congratulate, much like the defeated Takahashi.

"I just have one question." Takahashi walked over to Fuji and inquired politely. "Does the Seigaku team want to defeat me this fiercely, because they cannot accept the fact that I'm not purely Japanese, or you guys simply do not admit that separation and departure exists?"

"You have a very affronting way of phrasing your questions." Fuji smiled, "But I can assure you the former is a ridiculous reason."

"Thank you." Takahashi bowed to the perfect degree. "I really admire your counters, and your Tezuka-bucho is a really great tennis player. But even though unity is good, don't let it backfire. You'll be regretting that you've rejected me."

"My, my, doesn't this sound like a love confession."

Takahashi was about to happily tease back, when a pair of viciously unfriendly gazes bore through his back, and the think glass lenses could hardly shield them away. Awkwardly, he let the comment go, and instead, packed up his stuff and stepped out of the strictly Seigaku tennis courts.

"I'll see you guys again in the Nationals! Thanks for the welcome!" Glistening blonde hair sparked once more in the morning sun, and Takahashi Alex was gone.

The class-starting bell rang, and thus ended their first morning training. Fuji hauled Tezuka into their yet empty classroom, pressed him into his seat, and for the second time that day, towered over his almighty captain. "Now, either you were lying, or that match worked miracles."

Just like Tezuka, the taller boy remained silent, until he finally heaved a long sign that had been bottled up deep in his lungs. Pulling Fuji closer, he wound his arms around the slender waist, and lightly rested his head against Fuji's stomach.

"That was the first time I had won in 6 months…"


	4. Echizen's First Date

__

_**Don't be alarmed, that this chapter seems to have totally deviated from the previous ones. It's just that the whole story is long, has many themes, so it's not going to just follow one couple throughout. I'm hoping to create the feel of the original manga, just with lots more shonenai...  
Hope you guys like my MomoRyo pairing (Did Echizen go out of character?)**_

P.S. I just found out that I've been using "sempai" instead of "senpai" for the past chapters. That is such an idiotic mistake, I apologize... just automatically substitute it into the right thing when you see it. (God i'm embarrassed...)

_**Chapter 3 – Echizen's First Date**_

"Ryoma-kun! Momoshiro-kun is here to fetch you!" Nanako shouted, finally getting Ryoma out of his room, for which he seemed to have fallen in love with recently, locking himself up in there unless it was dinner time. Ah, puberty. Although wasn't it a little late now?

Ryoma strolled down the stairs, took a piece of toast and began slowly munching it while teasing Karupin.

"Ryoma-kun! Didn't you hear me? Momoshiro-kun is waiting outside!" Nanako nagged. Ryoma's daring attitude was growing by the day, especially when it came to Momoshiro, with whom (even though she shouldn't say this since she's his relative) he acted like a total spoiled brat.

"It's ok. Just let him wait. He deserves it since he made me late last week." Ryoma mumbled, but started wearing his shoes. "See ya."

Nanako signed after Ryoma. Her woman's instincts told her that her little cousin definitely was sinking into the mud pool called love, and there was no way he was going to come out clean like he did in all those tennis matches. Should she tell uncle Nanjirou for precation? Hm…

"Echizen! Hurry up! We're going to be late!" Momoshiro waved, but Ryoma acted as if he heard nothing, and continued at his easy pace until he hopped onto the back seat of the bicycle. Momoshiro bristled, and in a fit of annoyance, grabbed Ryoma's cap and flopped it onto his own head, and ruffled the latter's hair until it looked like a bunch of wild grass.

"Oi! Give it back!" Ryoma barked, and could only do so, lest he made a fool of himself trying to scale Momoshiro's height advantage over him.

Momoshiro whistled, "Is that the way you should talk to your sempai?"

"As if you ever act like –" And Momoshiro braked abruptly, sending Ryoma crashing into his back, efficiently cutting off any retorts. "What the heck are you trying to do?!" Ryoma fumed, digging his fingers very deeply into Momoshiro's side.

"I… I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun, Momoshiro-sempai!" A pitiful voice that sounded as if she was already crying managed to route around the mountainous mass that was Momoshiro and reached Ryoma's ears. The boy stuck out his head from behind the senior, and saw Ryuzaki Sakuno standing in the middle of the street, looking utterly lost.

"What's wrong, Sakuno-chan?" The gallant Momoshiro rushed forward. The girl flushed bright red, then whispered something in Momoshiro's ear. The latter gave a knowing nod, a sneaky grin, then rushed back to his bicycle and lifted Ryoma off it.

"Sorry, I just remembered something, so gotta rush! You walk Sakuno-chan to school like a man, you hear me, Echizen?" And off went Momoshiro, sending dust flying in his trail.

Ryoma started leading the way to school wordlessly. There was a limit as to how dumb someone can be, and Momoshiro-senpai had just broken it.

"Um… I… I mean, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno ventured in the tiniest voice possible, "Are you free this Sunday?"

"I'd have to check if there's weekend practice. Why?" Better test out her intentions first. If it were going to be another tryst in getting Sakuno's tennis skills out of beginner level, then he'd really have to think about it.

"I… that is… I have two tickets to the zoo, Tomoko-chan's busy, so… willyougotothezoowithme!" Sakuno gushed out, looking as if she might hyperventilate.

"The zoo… I'll confirm with you after I know the practice schedule." Ryoma said neutrally, and they walked on in awkward silence until they reached the tennis courts. "I've got to go to practice. See you later."

"See… see you…" Sakuno stuttered, blushed, bowed, and fled.

"Nyaa, what was that, ochibi?" Kikumaru, always on the watch for gossip, bounced over and lagged onto Ryoma. For the first time, Ryoma did not bat him away, instead dragged the senior into the equipment room.

Kikumaru, unlike most people, only became more excited by having his head in the clouds. "Oi, ochibi, what's the secret? Romance problems in need of the ever-ultimate all-powerful Eiji-sempai to help you solve? Don't be shy, we've all known that Sakuno-chan has liked you for years! There's no way she'll reject you."

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Eiji-senpai, I'm discussing this with you only because you are the most obvious, 100 percent positive homosexual member on the team."

Kikumaru jumped up, was tempted to flee, but if he ran away now, it would just be pure embarrassment on his part, not to mention having to lose against ochibi. If he swallowed the insult, bear with it, then in exchange he would know Echizen's dirty little secret, and they would be on par. That weighed out, Kikumaru coughed and tried to sound more mature. "I'm pretty sure you have the wrong ideas, Echizen, but I am very open minded, and I'm sure I'll be able to accept any peculiarities you are about to confide."

"Should I go on a date just to take revenge on somebody?"

"Nya?" Kikumaru blinked, not sure if that really was the romance idiot Echizen speaking. Purposefully invoking jealousy was something the pure Kikumaru Eiji would never consider. No, not a chance. "So… who's the victim?" Kikumaru's eyes were more than mischievous.

"Momo-senpai." Ryoma was a very straightforward boy.

"Momo? Peach? Momoshiro?" Kikumaru took a minute to digest the information, "Are you saying you want to go on a date with _Momo_ in order to let Sakuno-chan be jealous? That's so stupid! You go on outings, shopping trips with Momo all the time and I'm sure she's already immune by now."

Ryoma was beginning to doubt his choice of an advisor. "No, it's the other way round."

"…"

"I like Momo-sempai." Ryoma said it as if asking for a glass of water.

"Oh… ochibi likes Momo… hm…" Kikumaru went unexpectedly serious, supporting his chin in his hands and evaluated the situation. "You sure about this, Echizen? Cause it's not going to be easy, with Momo's thick skull and typical manly attitude."

"Didn't know Eiji-senpai can analyze so well." Ryoma commented in his usual half sarcastic, half well-meaning tone.

"That's not the focus right now! We're facing a very serious problem here, and it involves two of my precious kouhai's lifelong happiness!" Kikumaru lectured, pouting. "Actually, now that I think about it, you two do seem to have quite some possibilities, although I don't think Momo's realized the prospect of having a relationship with a boy, since he seemed so negative about homos in that match against Shitenhouji. It's making Momo come to an epiphany that's the biggest barrier here, nyaa."

Ryoma lifted an eyebrow. Perhaps he really did underestimate his senpai, or rather, maybe Eiji-sempai had just been under oppression for too long from the years of ambiguous relationship he shared with Oishi-senpai. "That's why I'm thinking to agitate him by going on a date with Sakuno."

"Ah… the quick and harsh way, nya? Well, that's an option… but be careful if it backfires." Kikumaru frowned. "Also, go talk to Sakuno-chan, and get her understanding. Even though I'm helping you, I still won't forgive anyone who hurts a pure little girl's heart!"

"Thanks, Eiji-senpai." Ryoma's lips curved up by a fraction.

When they finally opened the door of the equipment room, two very stern-looking captains blocked any sunlight or hope that could befall on them.

"Do you realize how long you've been in there?! The whole team could not practice with the lack of nets and tennis balls! 30 laps around the school for hindering progress!" Tezuka snapped, and for once the kind and gentle Oishi didn't step up for his partner.

Kikumaru tried his puppy eyes, but Oishi just avoided them. "You guys have been in there for 45 minutes." Anger was not the word for it, disturbed, more likely, for the expression on Oishi's face.

"Nyaa!! Oishi's angry at me!" Kikumaru whined, and dashed off for his run.

Ryoma took another look at Oishi's embarrassed and guilty face, before embarking on his own punishment. "Hm… Eiji-senpai, yaru jaa..."

………………………………………

"Oi, anyone seen Echizen? It's not like him to miss practice, even if it's on the weekend." Momoshiro looked around, trying not to seem as frantic as he felt. "That brat, can't even make it on time without me going to get him, eh?"

"Momo! Looking for ochibi?" Kikumaru flounced over at the calculated time, looking hyper and innocent as ever. "Didn't you hear him yesterday after practice? He took leave from Tezuka in order to go on a date!"

"EH? Really?" Momoshiro rubbed his chin, "Then I guess Sakuno-chan's confession worked. Hehe, she should really thank me, cause if it weren't for my extra push, she'd never find time alone with him."

Looking at the loudly laughing and boasting Momoshiro, Kikumaru sweatdropped. Reaction #1: Negative.

"Momo," Kikumaru tried to look secretive, "you wanna skip and go watch over them? Echizen told me that they're going to the zoo at 1 p.m. We'll make it in time."

Momoshiro seemed skeptical. "And risk bucho skinning us alive? No thanks."

"But ochibi is such an idiot when it comes to dating! Remember last time you followed him on the mistaken 'date' with Sakuno-chan? Just by hearing you say it was bad enough. What if he makes the girl cry again? All guys have responsibility to prevent any female from shedding tears, furthermore, it's ochibi we're talking about. Shouldn't we be the responsible senpai and guide the future generation onto the right way of life?" Even Kikumaru himself thought maybe he was overdoing it.

"Yeah… Echizen can be such an idiot sometimes…" Momoshiro mused, his hands already on autopilot to put his racket away. The guy finally nodded with determination, slinging his tennis bag back onto his shoulder, "Yup, you're right, Eiji-senpai! A little physical punishment cannot be compared with the importance of setting Echizen's first step into romance on the right path. Let's go!"

Kikumaru grinned all in the world like a cat that got the cream. The Kikumaru labeled plans never fail.

………………………………………

"Sorry, have you been waiting long?" Ryoma walked up to the blushing girl, just in the right angle to catch a glimpse of Kikumaru and Momoshiro hiding behind the bushes, the former winking blatantly at him. Ok, smile.

"N… no! Not at all!" Sakuno turned bright red after being subjected to one of Ryoma's rare smiles, no matter how fake the boy knew it really was. He'd have to apologize later, but right now, he had a show to put on.

"Hm… ochibi's doing good, isn't he? That's the first time I've seen him smile as if the whole world is made of bubbles. He must like Sakuno-chan a lot, nya?" Kikumaru edged the transfixed Momoshiro.

"Y… Yeah… he sure does. Heh, never knew that Echizen's such a charm, huh?" Momoshiro's laugh was more than forced.

Reaction #2: Positive. Perhaps he should've had Inui here to help him calculate the success rate.

All in all, it didn't feel like a bad trip, with ochibi honestly seeming to enjoy himself looking at the animals, and Sakuno-chan stealing glances at ochibi. It was, of course, no easy work crouching all the time behind trees and buildings, but the expressions on Momo's face were all too amusing. Such juicy news and complicated problem, he'd definitely have to analyze it together with someone… Hehe…

The wind suddenly picked up, and since pretty clothing always cannot stand against the cold, Sakuno sneezed.

Ryoma looked back, then wordlessly took off his jacket and tossed it back, landing on top of Sakuno's head nicely.

"Way to go, Echizen! Let her fall for your careless, grouchy, yet gentlemanly actions!" Momoshiro cheered on, and Kikumaru had to cover his mouth to prevent him from being too loud. Reaction #3: Negative.

And then Echizen sneezed. That was only natural, considering he only had a thin, short sleeve T-shirt on – the consequences of being charming.

"Eiji-senpai! Let me go! Just, just let me give this coat to Echizen, ok? It's still winter now, and we can't have the future pillar of Seigaku tennis sick!" Momoshiro was battling Kikumaru's grasp, and the latter was tempted to twist his neck. Why did he never recognize that Momoshiro had such a self-debating personality? Anyway, Reaction #4: Positive.

The zoo was one of Kikumaru's favourite places. He loved seeing the grace of those big cats, how the butterfly managed to look like a piece of leaf, and just how adorable the baby seal was with all its white fluffy down. But right then, the zoo was the equivalent of a nightmare. Ochibi was doing good, having the image of a perfect date, if not somewhat silent, but that's his charisma too. The main problem was that Momoshiro was acting _even more_ ambivalent than Oishi! Just make up your mind if you want to lock ochibi and Sakuno-chan in a closet, or jump out and steal the date!

By the end of the trip, even with his newly boosted stamina, Kikumaru was tired to the bones, chromosomes, and DNA. And what data did he get? Half positives, half negatives, which cancel themselves out to become zero.

"You really owe me one, ochibi… you really do!" Back again in the equipment room, Kikumaru strangled Ryoma in a headlock. "Right now, I'd advise you to totally give up on that Momo. There's so many other peaches out there! I mean, he can't even figure out what he wants to do, and although I can see that he cares a great deal about you, the whole subconscious debate of friendship vs. love is messing him up. Perhaps he himself hasn't even realized it, but –"

"Thanks, Eiji-senpai." Ryoma heaved a sigh from the weight of Kikumaru all dumped on him. "Guess I still have a long way to go, eh? Mada mada dane…"

"You know, you may want to find inspirations from Fuji next time. I can't advise you much, since I'm not that close to striking the jackpot myself." Kikumaru shrugged. He'd try his best, but if it were Echizen, Momoshiro and Oishi all at the same time, he'd burst.

"Yeah… Fuji-sempai… He does seem to get the bucho pretty well right now –" And Ryoma's thoughts were broken by heavy banging on the door. Such clashing noise, such strong vibrations that rocked through the whole equipment shack, it could be none other than Momoshiro himself.

"Echizen! Eiji-senpai! Tezuka-bucho just ordered us to run 50 laps for missing practice!"

"Well, see you on the courts later!" Kikumaru winked, and bounced out, leaving the thick tension behind him.

Momoshiro scratched the back of his head, "Um… Echizen, you wanna grab a burger on the way home today? If you don't have anything planned out with Sakuno-chan, that is."

"Nope, I'm free."

"Good… So… are you and Sakuno-chan going out together?"

"Not anytime soon."

"I mean, dating, becoming boyfriends and girlfriends, that is." Damn this nervousness. Why the hell was he getting nervous anyway?!

Ryoma skimmed his sempai out of the rim of his cap. "Not sure."

"Oh… But, you know, if you do, treat her well, ok? That's the basic principles of being a man!"

"Sure." Ryoma stepped past the taller boy, then paused. "You still coming to pick me up tomorrow?"

"Of course! Why'd you ask?" Momoshiro's gaze followed the departing silhouette, only seeing the top of the white cap, nothing else.

"No reason." And he coolly walked away.

Momoshiro's face softened into an incomprehensible smile. "That little brat…"

The first attempt to awaken Momoshiro ended in failure. The balance between them rippled for a second, then the surface was smooth again. Except that there was one more rock at the bottom of the pond. It may add to something, it may not, but gigantic dams also start with the smallest pebble. Ryoma didn't want to know how many more pebbles he would have to throw before the dam builds up, or before his arm hurts too much to throw anymore.


	5. Training and Scheming

_**Thank you for clearing up my confusion about "sempai" and "senpai". Since the former works ok, I'll just stick to it (less red lines on Word...)**_

**_Perhaps it seems a bit messy this chapter, that's cause I'm trying to balance all the couples out. It definitely needs lots of work to get all 4 couples in the scene, quite a handful (Hard to think there'll even be more later... tons more...). Hopefully everyone can get a sense of what's going on. I don't want to explicitly describe all the characters' inner feelings, but rather, try to get that across using their actions. Can you feel that? Good if you can, bad on my part if you can't, means i'm not there yet with my writing. _**

_**Chapter 4 – Training and Scheming**_

Coach Ryuzaki stood on the sidelines, sternly surveying the tennis team that always made her proud. It was a big jump to switch from being a junior high coach to senior high, but maybe she was also permeated by the strong team spirit her championship team had shown, and that had bounded her to them, dragging her to relive through her high school life again.

Great as they were in tennis, they were also synonyms with trouble. She had just "walked around" the high schools in the Tokyo prefecture recently, and truth to be told, it wasn't going to be an easy year, especially with Tezuka's bad conditions.

Most of Yamabuki junior high's students had gone to Moriyama private high school, including their captain Minami, the Lucky Sengoku, Akutsu Jin (who had returned to the tennis club, quite unfortunately), their little manager Dan Taichi etc. Members of Fudomine junior high tennis team proved too united to be broken, and had all risen successfully into the quite prestigious Nobihara private high school, which had a quite good reputation for their tennis club in the high school realm. Fuji Yuuta and Mizuki Hajime of St. Rudolph had separated from their team, getting into the highly academic Shirogami high school. Fuji's brother indeed… The rest of St. Rudolph went to their sibling high school, called St. Paul.

Her team had met some of the toughest opponents in their year of glory, and as they grew, their rivals also grew with them. What could she say? There was just too much excellence in their time, and scientists should really study the cause for this good mutation of genes.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, I've completed and refined the training schedule that you set me out to do." Inui approached her, notebook in hand. "Of course, to boost their spirits, I've added the invention of another ten new types of Inui juices."

Coach Ryuzaki nodded, somewhat disturbed. As long as the Inui juices did not send her students to the hospital, or applied on herself, she had nothing against it. "Ok then, let's get the plans going. Please gather here for a moment, all regulars!"

Once her bright and rather visually appealing team agglomerated, she announced, "Inui and I have formulated new training and individual schedules, the former of which will be abide with during regular group practice sections, the latter for you to carry out on your own. Please elaborate, Inui."

"Our training will be mainly composed of four parts, which are stamina, individual strengths, gaining all-roundedness, and doubles cooperation. For stamina, when you are not up in the courts, staying still is not permitted. It's best if you could take easy jogs around the courts while watching others play. Each leg will carry a weight of 3 kg for now, and each arm 2 kg. Any violations, and my new Rainbow Inui Juice will be there waiting for you."

The members took a look at the ten different glasses behind Inui, each of a varying shade of toxic, and the stamina training didn't seem so difficult after all.

"Individual strengths and gaining all-roundedness are pretty self-explanatory, both of which we'll just match you up with five other people, and grill you until you can act to your greatest potential. You guys all have very unique and stubborn personalities, which means you don't perform well unless your opponents force you up the wall, for example, which is the case with our Golden Pair's Synchro technique. Inui's glasses glinted, his encouraging smile turning sinister in the others' eyes. Well, all except for Kaidou, who just nodded gullibly, trusting in his senpai too much to doubt any ill intention of perhaps wanting to tire them to death.

"Last but not least, doubles cooperation." And Inui imitated the sound of a drum roll, "There are going to be way more training methods than the old rope game. You'll definitely see when you get there. So, which one do you want to start with? Stamina doesn't count, that just takes place all the time."

"I'll vote for individual strengths, thank you." Momoshiro made his choice with a shudder. At least it wasn't going to be so bad if he could play in something he was good at.

Lazy Kikumaru quickly agreed, followed by mild Oishi and Kawamura who wanted to start from easy up. Nonchalant Echizen just didn't care, Kaidou and Tezuka were ready to challenge anything, and the sadistic nature in Fuji led him to vote for doubles cooperation.

"Ok, so individual strengths it is." Inui tallied while dishing out the wrist and ankle bands filled with lead powder. "First of all, I need all of you to tell me what conditions boosted you guys to invent your special technique, so it would be better for me to recreate the scenario and formulate practices that will let you further familiarize with your skills."

Kaidou nodded vigorously on the side, silently thanking how Inui-senpai had helped him so much with his Boomerang Snake (oblivious to the ulterior intentions, of course).

"Let's start with Kikumaru and Oishi, since your Synchro seems to be the hardest to control and initiate. Will you please tell me details during the play?"

Kikumaru's brows creased in concentration, "Well… It was that match against Hyotei's Silver Pair, and we were tight on their heels, just about to catch up. We were really nervous, and I was especially worried about Oishi's conditions, since we both didn't know the limits to his…"

Inui jotted down in his notebook, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, that was our first time back together after a while, and I didn't know what Eiji thought of me, being absent from his side for so long. Perhaps because we were both so jumpy and our thoughts and wavelengths matched, then everything just clicked."

"And suddenly, everything else just didn't matter anymore." Kikumaru gushed out the memories, a big and silly grin on his face. "It felt as if Oishi and I took flight, swimming and playing high above the clouds, just the two of us. It was a wonderful feeling!"

Kawamura's face turned a tad redder than when he was in his "burning" form. Tezuka gave a polite little cough, maybe to warn something, but everyone was too engrossed in the Golden Pair's descriptions to notice.

"All the moments that Eiji and I spent together fleeted through our minds, as if he was standing naked in front of me, and I could read him as clear as glass."

Echizen chocked on his water, and Momoshiro intended to put out a hand to help the sputtering boy, but upon hearing his dear senpai's words, turned abruptly and awkwardly away. Kaidou pulled down his bandana to cover his blush, which was getting darker and darker that it was almost mahogany.

"It was more exciting than any game we'd played! I knew exactly what Oishi was thinking, and we combined so well! Therefore I felt it myself when Oishi couldn't last any longer, and even though it was too soon, I had to end it." Kikumaru was about to pout, but was interrupted by Tezuka with an extraordinarily loud cough.

"That's enough details, thank you. Mind that we still have underage children here." Oishi and Kikumaru just blinked in incomprehension, while Echizen huffed indignantly.

Fuji sneaked a peek into Inui's fresh writing, "Ahh… Looks like we think alike, Inui. The most effective way to initiate Synchro seems to be locking the Golden Pair in a hotel room, ne? Should we add equipments? Since Eiji mentioned something about playing games…" His sweet and harmless smile sent Oishi jumping into the air, his complexion switching by the second between deathly pale and furious crimson.

"Oishi!! What's wrong?" Kikumaru's arms flayed about in panic, and finally managed to tangle around Oishi's neck and shoulders in attempt to calm him down. This efficiently stopped him from moving, but one look into Kikumaru's eyes, which were a mere 3 cm away from his own, successfully stopped him from breathing too.

"NYAA!! Oishi!! What's wrong? Ryuzaki-sensei, take a look at him, call the doctors! Should I do CPR?" Kikumaru was on the verge of tears, and bent over the fainted Oishi, readily to perform the said rescue action.

"It's ok, Eiji. If you don't want Oishi here to get a total nervous breakdown, you'd better not do that." Fuji soothed, resisting the strong urge to watch the show for the good of their respected vice-captain. Ah, he was so self-sacrificial. "Let's just take him to the health room. I'm sure he's fine and will wake up in time."

Finally, the quite disastrous pair was removed. Kikumaru was gone too, of course. It just didn't make sense to split the Golden Pair up.

Ryuzaki-sensei uttered a long-suffering sigh. "Now, shall we get on? Let's just start practicing. I've heard too much for today – Yes, Fuji?"

The shorter boy waited until all the others had gone on their business, before dropping his smile by a notch and opening his eyes. Coach Ryuzaki shuddered a little at this expression. All in all, Fuji Shuusuke was not someone to be slighted.

"Do you know about Tezuka's conditions, sensei?"

Coach Ryuzaki arched an eyebrow. "So he has told you. I was worried that he was going to seal it in his heart and let it rot away again, like always."

"He just told me he can't initiate the Selfless State or the Hyakuren Jidoku anymore, but didn't go into details. Is it possible if sensei could tell me what actually happened in Germany?"

Coach Ryuzaki considered for a moment, "Since he's already told you some, then I guess it's no harm telling you the rest. Tezuka didn't tell me much himself, but the coach for his tennis training school is an old acquaintance of mine, called Keisuke Schneider. A half Japanese, therefore he often flies to Japan in scouting for new stars of tennis. He's quite a good-looking lad when I met him twenty years ago, and I once even considered him an option. Too bad he goes away too often –"

"Ahem, as interesting as your romance history is, I'm more concerned about Tezuka right now, sensei." Fuji stamped on Coach Ryuzaki's wandering fantasies.

"Yes, oh yes." The older lady recomposed herself, "Anyway, I called him, and as he described, Tezuka was a totally different person in Germany, as if he left the whole chunk of himself that fuelled his passion for tennis back here in Japan. He underestimated his enemies, reserving his power as if it was a disdain to play against them. Never once had he shown his Hyakuren Jidoku in Germany, and even Tezuka Zone and Zero drop shot were rare. After losses in games, he didn't reflect on why he lost, instead dwelling himself in the old matches in Japan, even going as far as practicing against imaginary opponents, some of which Keisuke recognized as Sanada and Atobe."

"His mind was still clinging to our team…"

"Yes. I'm guessing that due to lack of use in the Selfless State, as well as his emotional reluctance to stay in Germany, his mind had subconsciously sealed off the Hyakuren Jidoku, probably until the flame of his fighting spirit ignites once again to melt it off. But this team cannot last forever, and if Tezuka can't bear separation, what would become of him…"

Fuji gave a brilliant smile, making Coach Ryuzaki seriously judge the possibility of him having schizophrenia. "Don't worry. Even when we are no longer under the name of a team, in our hearts we will still be the Seigaku legendary year. Tezuka has just to overcome the aspect of physical distance." Besides, some members (pointedly himself) would probably never be too far away…

"Yeah, now that Tezuka's back, I'm sure his spirit will return in no time. Maybe the departure last time was too hasty to let him mentally prepare himself, but people learn all the time. He's Tezuka, he'll be fine."

"However, sensei, I want to keep this a secret from the other members, just to keep them from worrying too much. Even though our team is strong and will practice doubly hard if Tezuka's hurt, the unrest is still there. Insecurity is not something to hope for." Fuji analyzed, making the speech that took him a night to get together. He did not want others to know what Tezuka told him alone, period. The rest of the flourish were true, but just bonuses. "Therefore, is it ok if we practice doubles today, while I try to work individually with Tezuka for the rest of the individual strengths trainings?"

"I am fine with it, but it will depend on Tezuka's own decisions. If he agrees, go ahead." Coach Ryuzaki approved.

"Thank you." Fuji bowed, then trotted over to Tezuka. Coach Ryuzaki's eyes trailed towards the two in discussion, and pondered. Well, it wouldn't be so bad to have a strong player such as Fuji to force Tezuka into the Selfless State, so that he could gain control over it again, but Fuji would have to perform to his highest abilities for that to happen. Hopefully that would cure his bad habit of not taking matches seriously.

"All right, guys, change of plans! We're doing doubles cooperation today!" Coach Ryuzaki bawled, successfully earning mournful groans from across the courts. Tezuka and Fuji were already nowhere to be seen.

………………………………………

"Kaidou, Momoshiro, court A. Kawamura, Wakabayashi, Yamamoto, Uchida and Ichijou, you will be the pair's opponents. Make sure to return all their shots! If you can't even win 5 against 2, then you'll need some physical supplements from my Inui Juice."

"EHH?! I don't want to play doubles with the mamushi! He'll only drag me down! Also, isn't my partner Echizen?" Momoshiro complained immediately, waving his racket in the direction of the venomous serpent. Echizen peered up curiously at Inui, similarly baffled.

"Although everyone has chosen their doubles partners, probably because you can get along with him, it does not mean that you guys will be a good doubles team. Thus, I have to let you try all combinations in order to let you decide, with whom you can cooperate the best. I know Momo has played doubles with Kaidou before, but you always took that for temporary arrangement. I want you to really consider how much you two can synchronize this time." Inui explained. "Echizen, come with me to court B. Arai, it would be great if you can lead Sotomura, Kuwabara, Yamada and Susumu to be our opponents." The finality in Inui's voice was not to be opposed.

Momoshiro moaned in defeat, patting Echizen's head. "See ya later."

"Inui-sempai, what are you really trying to do?" The youngest and shortest boy of the team narrowed his eyes, meaning to appear more menacing than what nature gave him. "With all your data, there's no problem calculating out the percentage of coordination between a doubles pair, am I wrong?"

"Which is why I put them together." Inui pursed his lips, "Those two may be rivals, but have more synchronization between them than with us. It could be that they hadn't realized a way to get along, but if they do, then what's the point of binding them to a partner that's not the best for them?"

"You are really insecure, Inui-sempai." Echizen mumbled, glancing at the already quarrelling pair. "Are you meaning to give up on Kaidou-sempai just because he finds a better doubles partner? That's generous of you."

"It's not only partnership in tennis I'm talking about. I want him to make sure what he really wants, just so that I won't go blindly chasing after something that will leave me eventually, and nor will he feel guilty for making a bad choice. I mean, although he fights with Momo all the time, you have to admit they know each other pretty damn well, at least enough to imitate each other's best moves. Perhaps I'm being too suspicious and cautious, but… that's the way I am." The taller boy gave a bitter laugh, then stood in preparation stance at the midlines, not heeding Echizen anymore.

Knew each other very well, eh? Echizen's twist serve made direct contact with one of the unlucky souls on the other side.

………………………………………

"Oi, mamushi! Guard the net! Shit, five people all at once…" Momoshiro yelled, high volleying back a shot to one small patch of the court that was not already blocked by a human body. The shot was easy enough to catch up with, and one of their opponents smashed. Too bad his smash did not have nearly as much power as Momoshiro's Dunk Smash, enough for Kaidou to return it effortlessly.

The five on the other side moved, preparing to aim it to the empty area on the left, when Kaidou suddenly made a signal behind his back, and sprinted to guard the left side. Seeing this, the one to hit the ball could only instinctively change aim to the right side, where to his astonishment, Momoshiro had already made it to the mid-court. One simple smash (at least to Momo) ended the situation. Brilliant teamwork.

"Game Kaidou Momoshiro pair! 4 – 1! Change courts!"

"All right! Another 2 more games!" Momoshiro patted Kaidou's shoulder as they walked over to the other side. Turning to look at court B where Echizen was, he was just in time to hear the score. "Game Kawamura and all! 5 – 3!"

Echizen and Inui-sempai losing?! The two second years stared at the somewhat battered couple on the neighbouring court. Momoshiro and Echizen's eyes met, and Inui made a mediocre serve, to be returned fast and furious by the hotly burning Kawamura. The ball sliced by Echizen's head, blowing his cap off, and the boy didn't even bat an eye, as if he hadn't even noticed. "0 – 15!"

"What the hell is Echizen doing?! He isn't even focusing on the match!" "What's with that silly serve?! Use your Waterfall, Inui-sempai!" Both fretted at the same time, then they glared at each other for clashing in their words.

"Momoshiro! Kaidou! Return to your games and stop gawking like idiots!" Coach Ryuzaki shouted from the referee's chair. Reluctantly, they stood into their positions again, after stealing one more glance at the other side. It seemed like her team had much more problems than she thought, especially in the "birds and bees" department. Coach Ryuzaki uttered a long-suffering sigh.

Momoshiro gritted his teeth and served hard, effectively knocking the racket off his opponent's hand.

"BURNING!! GREAT!!" Clack! Sshh! The sound of the metallic rim hitting asphalt and sliding across it was echoed, somehow, from somewhere out of their court boundaries. Momoshiro's eyes instinctively searched for his kouhai, and saw red.

"SHIT! Echizen! Are you all right?! Gotta stop the bleeding, stop the bleeding…" Momoshiro scooped the smaller boy into his arms, covering the wound with his uniform. Apparently, Kawamura had used his Hadou Kyuu, catching the already unfocused Echizen unaware, and the boy was flung out from the strength of the hit, scraping his right arm on the ground.

"I'm fine, Momo –"

"TAKA-SAN! How can you use Hadou Kyuu on Echizen?! You know he can't possibly catch it!" Momoshiro turned livid eyes onto the meek Kawamura, looking extremely sorry after dropping his racket. "And you yourself, Echizen! What had you been thinking?! It's not you to lose focus during a match, and you know how dangerous it can be!" Momoshiro originally intended to scold the living hell out of the boy for not taking care of himself, but looking at his creased eyebrows, messy hair and dirt covered face which all added up to the image of vulnerability, his tone was still fuming, but the volume level had dropped to a whisper. "Don't scare me, ok?"

"Get out of the way, Momo." Coach Ryuzaki rushed over after getting the first aid box. Checking the injury, it was fortunate that it was only and merely a scrapping wound, nothing to do with the bones or tendons. Stretching out the gauze, she said, "It's a small case, just let it stop bleeding and clot, then everything will be fine."

"I'll accompany Echizen to the lockers. Is it ok if we leave early today?" Momoshiro carefully put Echizen back on his feet, keeping a guarding hand on his shoulders. Echizhen batted the hand away, annoyed to be treated as disabled, but Momoshiro just wounds his whole arm around the boy's back.

Coach Ryuzaki nodded approval. "I think that will be all for today, anyway. You guys are totally not into training mood. Dismissed!"

………………………………………

"Echizen! Echizen, wait for me! What's wrong? Who got on your nerves this time?" Momoshiro rushed alongside a very fast-paced Echizen, who was right then, treating him like carbon dioxide. After the accident, Echizen had been ignoring him, all through changing, packing, and now it looked like he wasn't even going to hitch his bike ride home.

"Just tell me where I did wrong, or something, ok? Echizen –"

"You told me to give you a feedback on my cooperation with Momoshiro, so here it is. We don't fit at all, and will never be doubles partners, period." Kaidou's voice drifted over from around the supplies room. Echizen had taken longer time to get ready to go home because of his injury, so they thought most people in the club had already gone, but obviously Kaidou and Inui were lingering behind. The two stopped short at the corner of the building, then silently peeked over.

"Are you sure about that? The way you two signaled and moved around the courts in today's game was very in sync."

Kaidou growled in frustration, "I don't **care** if I'm in sync with him or not, but I don't want to partner him, I want to play doubles with Inui-sempai, that's all!"

Inui was a bit cornered to the wall, "You may say that now, but we really don't fit that well, and perhaps you'll find better partnership with others on the team. Momo is a very good player, he's definitely more efficient than my data tennis –"

"Sempai's data tennis is great! I won't allow you to discredit something that's clearly so brilliant! And don't try to push me onto Momoshiro that airhead! So what if we can't cooperate perfectly right now? As long as I am willing, I will have the determination to do everything in my power to correct this situation! I am only playing doubles with Inui-sempai, or no doubles for me at all!"

Echizen raised one eyebrow. Kaidou-sempai's hot temper and very straightforward attitude seems to be just the right thing for Inui-sempai… Would it work on the "airhead" beside him? He turned to see a gawking Momoshiro, and shook his head at the ridiculous image formed in his mind. Grabbing his sempai's uniform collar, Echizen dragged Momoshiro away from the scene that was originally intended just for Inui and Kaidou.

"Wow… Didn't know mamushi is so heated about playing doubles with Inui-sempai, and he acted so aloof when Inui-sempai made the suggestion in the first place…" Feeling the pressure of Echizen's hands on his shoulders as the latter sat behind him on his bicycle, Momoshiro felt much more assured. "So… you're not angry anymore?" (But why was he angry in the first place?)

Echizen made a small noise, which could be read as affirmation (in Momoshiro's mind).

Just then, Momoshiro's cell phone rang. Skillfully balancing the bike with one hand, Momoshiro groped out his phone and answered. "Hey, Akemi-chan? What's up? …You wanna go out this Sunday? Sure, there's no practice – Whoa, whoa, what are you doing, Echizen?!" Momoshiro yelped, as the boy just suddenly jumped off his bike, setting him swerving dangerously on the road. "Sorry, Akemi-chan, bike troubles. What was that again? …"

Echizen glared daggers at Momoshiro's back, then determinedly took another route home, not that he thought his sempai would notice anyway. Momo-sempai was the biggest idiot in the whole world!

………………………………………

Tezuka held out a hand to Fuji, who was completely exhausted (out of batteries, as Eiji would say) and a heap on the ground.

"I'm sorry that there's no progess, wasting so much of your time." Tezuka apologized solemnly.

Fuji laughed, "You think that overcoming a mental barrier you took two years to build up would be so easy? Let the genius tell you, that is not possible. We'll just work this out slowly. Anyway, did my play improve?"

"Yes, definitely. For instance, that…"

Fuji looked at Tezuka, who totally forgot himself once the topic got onto tennis. Ah, his serious, rockheaded captain as usual.

"Thank you for today, and always, Fuji."

"That's what friends are for, ne?" Fuji chuckled, and lightly knocked Tezuka on the forehead.


	6. Seigaku vs St Paul I: Disastrous Combo

_**Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in this chapter. School's restarted, a little busy. **_

**_The techniques mentioned in this game, and in the matches that will follow, will include ones from the Prince of Tennis PS2 game, "Form the Strongest Team" (although I haven't played that...) due to lack of new moves. And I'm trying to tone down the Seigaku team's "inhumane" power in tennis, or else, what competition and excitment will there be left? _**

**_In the last chapter, I wrote that Oishi and Kikumaru hadn't yet managed to control the Synchro, but that was before yesterday, before I know that in the new installments of the manga, they DID control Synchro to win against Rikkai. But let's just stick to what I've written, it's too late to change. And Yukimura is finally coming out in the manga!! What type of moves will he have??? That will definitely help me later on. _**

_**Chapter 5 – Seigaku vs. St. Paul I**_

"NYAA!! Fuji! Help me help me helpmehelpme!!" Kikumaru came sweeping through the hallways, wailing his arrival. The acrobatic player swiftly dodged and leaped over all the tables and chairs in his way until with one last gigantic spring, latched onto the quietly reading boy sitting by the window. Tezuka, who was originally beside Fuji, moved one meter sideways just in time before Kikumaru crash-landed.

"Ah, good morning, Eiji. You seem full of energy today." Fuji greeted, putting away his book. It wasn't much interesting nor practical anyway, the "Practical Strategies in Romance".

Kikumaru sniffed, and huge droplets of tears started bubbling from his round, cat-like orbs. Fuji glanced at Tezuka on the side, their eyes meeting and bouncing away, then the stern boy left the classroom, closing the door behind him. It was already a habit for them to come early to school, even on days when there was no morning practice.

"What's wrong, Eiji? Is it something to do with Oishi?" Fuji hit the nail right on its head. Not that he was extra sensitive or anything, but even a blind man could feel the building tension throughout the Seigaku tennis team in the past few months, ever since the day Inui introduced his new training methods. The Golden Pair wasn't quite so shining anymore, with Oishi acting all like a wooden block once Eiji pranced too near, Echizen totally treating Momo like dust, and Kaidou building a silent grudge against Inui. Talk about team spirit. At least he and Tezuka were normal enough, pretty good actually, just that he still couldn't seem to force the Selfless State out of him no matter how hard he tried.

"Fuji… Oishi, Oishi he must hate me now! But I don't get it! I just don't get it!" Kikumaru rattled on, his tone a mixture of frustration, anger, confusion, sadness, all in all a big complicated knot the kitten had rolled up himself playing with the knitting ball. "I'd really like to kill Oishi right now! And then kill myself too, for all my stupidity!"

"Oh no, you won't bear to kill our fukubucho. Now calm down and tell me." Fuji chided, smoothing Kikumaru's back.

"For the past months, Oishi's been acting weird around me, and doesn't even come within 1 meter radius of me! I tried talking, but he just evades, and it's affecting our play on the court too, it's like he's shutting me off, and things just don't click anymore. You know the Tokyo prefectural matches are coming up right next week, and if he keeps this up, our whole team would be dragged down." Kikumaru gave a small hiccup and blew his nose. "So I confronted him, asking what's wrong, but he won't tell! No matter what I said, he still won't! So I finally got mad, and said that I don't want to partner someone who couldn't even trust me with their problems, and that was probably what he had wished, since he wasn't even paying attention to me these days anymore! What should I do? I've said something so mean, and what if… what if Oishi really won't play doubles with me anymore…"

"Don't worry, Oishi isn't one to remember your silly words and blame you for them, or he would've broken up your partnership ages ago." Fuji consoled, "Actually, I already have a guess as to what's bothering Oishi, but first, let me ask you a few questions just to make sure."

"I'll tell you anything, as long as you can stop Oishi from ignoring me, nyaa…" Kikumaru pleaded to Fuji, who appeared too angelic at that moment.

Fuji beamed, bright as sunshine. "Ok. Have you confessed to him that you like him, romantically?"

"Well, not really, since I figured it's pretty obvious…"

"Tell me Oishi's reactions when you get near him or touch him."

"Oishi feels really cuddly!! Like a huge teddy bear, and he smells like fresh laundry, always so neat!" Kikumaru turned dreamy, "And his hands are really warm, especially when he's patting me on the head or holding my hand. Too bad the last time he hugged me, I mean a real hug, was after the nationals match last –"

"It's his reactions, not yours. I already know enough about yours." Fuji coughed lightly. Luckily he drove Tezuka away. Just imagine what the captain would say, his whole team becoming more like gay straight alliance than tennis club… Not that he was in any position to say it, though.

"Oh… I used to just laugh at him, then give in to all my whims, but lately as I said, he's shrinking away, turning his head away the first thing, so fast as if he wants to twist his neck." Kikumaru grumbled.

"Hm… What were his expressions when you got angry at him?"

"He looked panicked, so I insisted that he spit everything out if he doesn't want me to really break off with him, but he just turned red, as if he chocked on chili, and refused to speak another word."

"Last of all, Eiji, do you masturbate?"

Kikumaru jumped so high he bumped his head on the ceiling. "WH… WH… WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

Fuji shrugged, "I'm just trying to relieve Oishi's worries. Because if you have any notion of sex, or any slightest desire to have sex with your yet-to-be boyfriend, then everything's simple. You act so guileless sometimes that it's hard to connect you with anything lustful, while Oishi is definitely a normal and hormonal 18 year old, even though he may not look it, and judging by his cautious and traditional personality, it's natural that he's stuck between releasing his own desires or protecting your virginity. Furthermore, you haven't even told him you like him, which adds to his uncertainty." The analysis left Fuji wanting to roll his eyes. To think that the Golden Pair was trapped by this sort of troubles.

Kikumaru blinked, taking in the information. "…So you're saying Oishi's avoiding me because he's afraid to have sex?"

That sure made their fukubucho sound like he had some unspeakable deficiency. Fuji stifled a laughter, "Not really. He's just holds you too precious to confront you with his 'ugly' desires, fearing they might turn you into a bad boy."

"That Oishi! What sort of stupid things is he putting in his head?! I'm not a baby!" Kikumaru was about to dash out of the classroom to sort out this problem right away, when Fuji called him back with a suspiciously bright gleam in his eyes.

"Eiji, don't you want to punish Oishi for being so silly and making you suffer? Don't wanna payback for those months you lived in constant anxiety over your relationship? Why not do this…"

………………………………………

"As you know, the Tokyo prefectural matches are starting next week! It's finally time to put all your training and hard work into use!" Coach Ryuzaki lectured, her voice spreading the fighting spirit across the courts. "Are you guys all ready?"

"YES MADAM!" The whole tennis team chorused.

"I've got your match schedule right here! Thanks to the general good reputation of the Seigaku tennis team, and the good leadership of Momoshiro and Echizen as captains in the past two years of junior high Nationals, Seigaku is placed as a seed team, which means the first two matches are byes." Coach Ryuzaki paused, holding out the piece of paper filled with the tree-like match sequences. "But that does not mean you can be careless! This is an elimination match, if you lose ANY before the semifinals, then don't even dream about this year's Nationals! High school matches are 3 set games, so it's going to need three times more stamina than before!"

"It's ok, sensei. Everyone here has been playing tennis for at least six years. We know the rules." Momoshiro complained, bored. "Just get to the good part. Who's the first school awaiting to be defeated by us?"

A vein popped up on Coach Ryuzaki's forehead. "Twenty laps around the school after practice, Momo. Anyway, it will be three matches before you enter the safe zone of the semifinals, and as usual, there will be one more spot to vie for among the four defeated teams in semifinals. Your first opponent will be Ginka High School, and as the name says, the members are probably from Ginka Junior High School."

"Oh, that school that was too afraid to even come up against us." Echizen said flatly, "I wonder if they'll use that stomach ache excuse again."

Coach Ryuzaki knocked the arrogant boy on the head. "Overconfidence can be a huge cause for failure, you know. Don't underestimate any opponent. If you win, the next school coming up will probably be St. Rudolph's sister high school, St. Paul. I've checked, with the exception of Fuji Yuuta and Mizuki Hajime, all the rest of the old regulars are on the team."

"Oh yeah, I still remember that 'dane dane' guy from St. Rudolph. He was smashed so hard by my Dunk Smash." Momoshiro prided at the memory.

The second vein popped up on Coach Ryuzaki's temple. These little rascals, they'd never learn unless… "Since you guys are so confident, then how about I leave the 'dane dane' Yanagizawa and his partner, Kisarazu Atsushi to you, eh? Momoshiro, Echizen?" Coach Ryuzaki winked, a smirk on her lips. "I heard you guys are cooperating 'well' these days."

Momoshiro sweated, and cast a nervous glance at the suddenly ice-cold Echizen, who was never one to back away from a challenge. "Fine, I'll play doubles."

It was going to be a good match. Coach Ryuzaki was already outrageous with laughter on the inside. "Anyway, Ginka High School first, and all of you are going to get skinned if you don't bring me a victory in the first match. Dismissed!"

………………………………………

Although Ginka didn't bring back the stomach ache excuse this year, they all seemed quite feeble in the limbs. One poor guy almost dropped his racket when facing Inui and Kaidou in doubles two, after Kaidou simply made his usual serpent-like hiss.

Fuji looked at Kikumaru, innocently warming up, touching his toes while the shirt rode up his abdomen, making Oishi beside him awkwardly trying to divert his attention to the sky. Ah, who said that Eiji was pure and innocent?

"What are you scheming at again?" Tezuka's deep voice rang out from behind Fuji.

"When have I ever schemed anything?" Fuji put on his most virtuous smile, but Tezuka knew enough to not buy it. "Fine, but I'm only trying to lessen the tension in our team lately. Personal problems will affect their play, you know? Tennis is a mental game too, that's what you said."

"And how are you attempting to help? You've only been reading romance counseling books these days."

"Which is what our team needs the most at this moment."

Tezuka quirked an eyebrow, and started searching around him. "Where? I don't even see a girl around."

"Ah, Tezuka you rockhead." Fuji was more than amused, a mood which often evoked him to do things not so moral. A sneaky grin climbed onto his face, while his arm snaked around Tezuka's back to cling itself around his neck. Standing on his tiptoes, Fuji further narrowed the distance between them. "What about us? Don't you think we're quite… problematic too?" The soft alto voice was seductive to say the least.

The cute blushing expression Fuji was expecting did not come. Instead, Tezuka seemed not to mind the proximity, tilting Fuji's chin up so that neither could escape from the eyes of the other. "Do you really like me?"

Shocked, Fuji was, but he was not going to lose in something he started himself. Lightly, he placed the tips of his fingers on Tezuka's arm, and slid them up until he caught the hand that was locking his chin in place. "Why do you want to know if a boy likes you or not? Or do you only care, because I'm Fuji Shuusuke?"

"All right, all right, stop flirting, you two! The who match against Ginka is already over." Momoshiro drawled, encountering this scene just after he came back from his victory in singles three. "It's a bad example to the rest of us, you know, the captain not paying attention to the game, while hurling homosexual influences at us together with the second strongest on the team."

Tezuka coughed, untangling out of Fuji. The smaller boy only smiled, glancing sideways at Echizen who happened to pass by. "Well, I guess it's true that Momo does need some of our influence. Or are you planning on staying single forever?"

Unaware of the presence of his kouhai, Momoshiro yelped in indignation. "How is it possible for such a charming guy as me to stay bachelor?! I've already got a girlfriend, in fact." He puffed up his chest as if to show off, only to deflate seconds later on Echizen's cold remark.

"Good for you, Momo-sempai. Is she the Akemi-chan you talked on the phone with last time?" And not waiting for a reply, the little ice cube waded away.

Momoshiro had the expression of wanting to kill himself. Fuji walked over and patted him sympathetically, not forgetting to throw some cold water before leaving the scene. "You should be happy. That's the longest time Echizen has spoke to you in the past few months."

Should he help or should he not? Fuji wondered. But perhaps he should help himself first of all. Reverting back and totally destroying the image he built with the previous cool exit, Fuji latched onto the statue-like Tezuka, and pulled him away from the bundle of negative energy Momoshiro had become.

………………………………………

"Good job on the win against Ginka High, and as expected, your next opponent is St. Paul. Your match arrangements are here. Don't be surprised, and I won't hear any complains. Practice accordingly." Coach Ryuzaki stuck the piece of paper on the bulletin board, eyes traveling between her team and the arrangements she made, and shook her head. She wasn't even going to bother sorting them out this time, since she was sure she's not going to be of much help anyways.

Doubles two: Momoshiro and Ryoma. 

The last time (or the first time) those two played doubles, they were cooperative, and were on the verge of losing. This time, they were not even cooperative.

Doubles one: Oishi and Kikumaru.

Oishi was the supporter in the Golden Pair, the one who observed Kikumaru's moves to make up for his blind spots, enabling the acrobatic player to bounce around all he like. Right now, the supporter was adamantly trying to avoid force his eyes away from any part of his partner's body. Yes, talk about observations.

Singles three: Kaidou.

Monstrous stamina and ferocious temper are some aspects Kaidou was notorious for. He liked dragging out the match and tormenting his opponents until their energy ran dry. From the fire burning in his eyes, he was definitely in the tormenting mood, oh yes.

Singles two: Fuji. 

The most steady and least problematic player on the team, probably due to his unusually good emotional balance (which lived off other's pains, especially when tragic suffering was the current theme of Seigaku). Just trust Fuji to win a match back for them.

Singles one: Tezuka. 

What could she say? The pillar of Seigaku had some serious self-esteem problems right now.

But still, she believed they would win against St. Paul, even though their conditions couldn't be worse (later she would have to re-evaluate that), not to say there were some very powerful new additions to the old St. Rudolph team this year. Yes, they would win based on their determination. Other things didn't matter. Coach Ryuzaki consoled herself so.

Thus, with various unsettled hearts, Seigaku tennis team welcomed the day of the match with St. Paul. The cheerleading, the colours of the opposing school's tennis uniform, and the familiar faces of some of their opponents would hopefully ignite the battle mode in them, and kick their jumble of personal emotions down into the sea of Japan. Coach Ryuzaki resisted the urge to pace around and literally start praying.

"Look who's here, dane! Looks like your captain is back, Momoshiro-kun, dane. But captain or not, the way Seigaku forms their doubles teams is still as bad as before, dane! Poor Momo-kun, always have to play doubles with those uncooperative ones on your team, dane." The Donald duck hadn't changed much, quacking his way over to challenge Momoshiro. "Actually, I'm surprised you are playing doubles at all, since you stopped doing that ever since your seniors left and you became captain, dane."

Momoshiro stretched, bringing his racket over his head, then as if coincidental, made a smashing action towards Yanagizawa. The latter flinched away, and Momoshiro laughed. "So you're intending to win me when you are still cowering in fear from my Dunk Smash? Don't be hilarious."

Yanagizawa was about to fight back, when the speaker boomed. "High school tennis Tokyo prefectural match, Seishun Gakuen against St. Paul High School. Players for doubles two, please enter the courts now."

"You'll get it from me on the courts, dane! Such a self-centered person like you would never succeed in doubles, no matter how good you are individually, dane!" Yanagizawa spat, walking back to the St. Paul team and clapped with his partner, Kisarazu Atsushi. The two then lapsed into a secretive discussion, tossing occasional glances over at Momoshiro and the indifferent Echizen.

"I don't know why you are mad at me," Momoshiro half turned to Echizen behind him, dead serious, "but this is not the time for you to strut around with that rotten attitude. You can treat me any way you want to vent your anger, but just don't bring that into the match."

Echizen smirked, not even bothering to lift his cap, "I won't take orders from anyone, especially not you."

"Shit, Echizen! I mean it!" Momoshiro whammed his racket onto the ground, grabbed Echizen's arm and spun him around. "Can't you take me seriously for once? I know I may seem like only a mediocre tennis player in your eyes, but I value the game just as much as you do." Momoshiro's voice dropped to a deep, hushed whisper, stealthily creeping into his ear, through his nervous system and manifesting his brain and heart, breaking down the dam that had always kept the "guilt" portion of Echizen Ryoma in check. And why did Momo-sempai had to look so attractive when he's serious… Echizen felt a little undignified for losing his guard because of that.

"So give all you have, and don't let anything devalue the game." Momoshiro pressed their foreheads together as a show of encouragement, then picked up his racket and headed to the courts.

Echizen watched as Momoshiro strode confidently to the net, and he gripped his racket handle so hard his arm shook.

"Seishun Gakuen vs. St. Paul High School, doubles two! Three set match, St. Paul Kisarazu to serve!"

Echizen crouched at the baseline, eyes following the bright yellow ball as if in slow motion, as it swerved around his sempai's back, landing with a full thud onto the right corner of the service box. His view was sweeping across the courts in search of an open spot between the two opponents, when Momoshiro's silhouette against the hazy sunlight struck out like a sore thumb (or a nice target) in his panorama.

Growling in frustration, he slammed the ball back towards the opposite baseline. Easy for Momo-sempai to say, not to get distracted during the match, when he couldn't understand even a tiny speck of what he was going through. That frustrating view of his back, what he was always looking at…

"With that stinking combination between you two, don't even think about messing with us!" Kisarazu jeered, stretching his arm way behind his body, catching the ball with the bottom side of his racket, then made the forehand slice so long and hard that he was almost facing the back of the court after completing the stance. The ball flew fast and low, slicing over the rim of the net, and Momoshiro totally misjudged the height of the ball, letting it dive inches below his racket.

"What the—"

The ball finally hit the ground at back court, right beside Echizen's foot, and the boy swung out, only to miss again as it didn't even bounce back up, skidding across the court until it was blocked back by the wire net.

"Luna Lander, impressive, dane!" Yanagizawa was greatly enjoying the way Momoshiro's pupils shrank from shock at the play.

"Looks like nobody's wasting time here, eh? But don't expect that such small tricks can defeat us." Momoshiro recovered, turning and stretching out his arm for a high five with Ecihzen as they passed each other to change positions for the next ball. The boy ducked out of his reach, leaving the arm hanging awkwardly in the air.

"What a great partnership you have there!" Kisarazu shouted, unable to hide the smugness out of his voice even as he served.

Tezuka frowned on the side. "I only thought that Echizen didn't like playing doubles, but didn't know he hates it to such an extent." Shaking his head, he watched as Echizen forcefully hit back a medium height lob that could easily be returned by Momoshiro, guarding at the baseline, jumping up so high that Tezuka thought he was starting to use the Selfless State to imitate Kikumaru. "He's trying to play the game by himself again."

"Sumire-chan really shouldn't have put them together just on a whim, especially at this time. Honestly, sometimes you'd think that adults should have more tolerance." Fuji mused, closely observing Echizen's every move, as he sealed off all the balls just by standing in mid court, not even giving Momoshiro a chance to get into the game.

Frustrated as he was, and as much as he wanted to just budge into the mid court, either to relieve Echizen's burden or give him a whack on the head, Momoshiro dare not move up. Getting out of formation could be fatal in doubles – something Oishi-sempai told him years ago. Gritting his teeth, Momoshiro estimated Echizen's next steps, moving in accordance to the busy figure in front, patching up the areas Echizen could not defend.

Tension was building. It was ordinary for a regular doubles player to support his partner like what Momoshiro was doing, but it was Momoshiro on the court, and the said player did not know the meaning patience and forbearance in a game.

And Echizen was not doing well. By sticking stubbornly to the mid court, and the St. Paul pair was clever enough to avoid making any high enough lobs to allow for smashes, he had personally crossed off any chance of playing his Drive A and B.

Kisarazu's next return from the baseline caught the net, tittering on the edge before leaning towards the Seigaku side of the court. Echizen dashed, driving his whole body to the right, changing his racket from his left hand to the right in the process, and finally managed to scarcely volley the ball back over the net again.

"I feel sorry for using this on you when you are trying so hard, but life's unfair, dane. Just look on in awe at my Duck Step Cross, dane!" Yanagizawa was at the ball in a second, raising his arm across his body, then bringing it down with a powerful backhand that caught the ball. Echizen had already rolled back up from his dive and moved a step towards the centre line, jumping up a little in his split step in preparation for the next ball.

Yanagizawa carried the tennis ball on the racket face in the downward motion of his play, gathering spin and power, then sending it out tearing in a steep angle, aiming exactly at the right doubles sideline.

"Echizen! Leave it to me!" Momoshiro shouted, but the boy paid no heed, chasing almost immediately.

But this time, even with his split step and Nitouryu (two-hands play), he wasn't going to catch up. The boy narrowed his eyes, making one last powerful push with his legs and threw himself towards the ball, his whole body almost just skimming over the ground.

The tip of the racket made contact.

And Echizen crashed onto the coated asphalt.

"Set St. Paul! 6 – 2! Change courts!" The first set was over like that.

"Echizen! Echizen, you ok?" Momoshiro rushed up, finding that the scraps on Echizen's elbow, which was inflicted a week ago from the training match with Kawamura, had tore open, and blood was oozing out from the pink, yet-to-heal flesh. "I was in a much better position to catch that, why didn't you listen to me?!" Momoshiro accused, signaling to the referee for a time-out, while gently dabbing the wound with his shirt.

"Just felt like it. It's my game, anyway." Echizen said indifferently, jerking his arm out of Momoshiro's hands, ignoring the blood that was beginning to trickle down from his brash action.

"Why are you pushing me away? It's like you're shutting me off from any connection with you!"

The boy just continued on making his way to the other side of the court, leaving Momoshiro behind, seething.

"Set 2! Seigaku Echizen to serve!"

Echizen started off with his twist serve, but this year, it only took two services to let Yanagizawa and Kisarazu get used to its speed and direction to return it successfully. Momoshiro saw through the corner of his eye that Echizen was preparing to move to the front again, so without waiting for the ball to bounce, volleyed it right into Kisarazu's racket. The ball whizzed back, grazing his arm, but at least Echizen wasn't getting the chance to dominate this time. He, Momoshiro Takeshi, was not someone to be left out of the game, and cower and relax while his partner dives all over the court.

"30 – 15!"

Oishi rubbed his temples, "Just when I thought that Momo was becoming a better doubles player, and here he's back with all those rashness again. If Echizen can't play it the doubles way, then just do your best to support him!"

Fuji patted him sympathetically, "It's not so simple. Do you really think that Echizen's such an amateur player that he can't even stand to cooperate in one doubles match? We are all human, and bringing our personalities, emotions and even suffering and troubles into the game is also just another natural part of tennis, and these mould us into the players we are. Let them deal with this themselves. It's not about the game anymore."

The situation in the previous set was reversing in this one, as Momoshiro guarded the front, forcing himself in running and reacting with speeds he normally could never accomplish with his relatively bulkier build. Echizen stood behind, watching as Momoshiro shielded away every bright yellow bullet, the light stinging in his scraped elbow telling him why.

But he didn't need Momoshiro's protection in tennis. If only the sempai could notice more, how he was feeling when the former talked to his girlfriend, all the while pushing him to go on dates… If only he could realize just one bit more, it was better than catching him a hundred times when he fell. He didn't want these useless shows and actions.

"30 – 40!"

Echizen bounced the tennis ball in preparation for a serve, the hot and bitter anger making his hands unsteady. He squeezed his eyes shut.

If Momo-sempai couldn't give him what he wanted, any other consolations were but mockery. He'd rather play it alone.

Opening his eyes, Echizen shouted, tossing the ball high up and to the front, then stepped out one foot as he sliced. Immediately after the ball left his racket, he started dashing to the front, doing a fine imitation of Hyotei's Akutagawa Jirou's Serve and Dash.

"The shortie wants to do it by himself again? We don't mind easy wins, dane!" Yanagizawa purposefully volleyed the ball in the direction Echizen was running up to.

"STAY BACK!" Momoshiro yelled, the concept that they were still in a match totally fled his mind, and he only knew that Echizen was **not** coming up to the net again, **not** going to finish the competition by himself, and **not** going to push him any further away. Seeing that he had no way of catching the ball, when it was racing to the right doubles alley while he was still on the left, Momoshiro flung out his racket, intercepting the ball, and both objects bounced apart, dropping weakly onto the ground.

"Game St. Paul! 1 – 0! Change courts, St. Paul Yanagizawa to serve!"

Echizen dazed out at the lone racket for a few seconds, then made a small noise and waved to the referee. "I'm not playing anymore. You can declare this match to St. Paul."

Clash! The sound of the collision of dozens of metal wires was light but prickly, like thousands of needles pouring down on you, and the whole tennis court area fell silent at the scene.

Momoshiro had grabbed Echizen by the collar and rammed him onto the meshed fence, totally lifting the smaller boy off the ground. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! That Echizen I know does not give up on matches halfway, isn't even half so snobbish and stubborn, and if it's my fault, just tell me right out! I'm not your brain and I won't know what you are thinking unless you tell me!"

Echizen stared back at him, seemingly unmoved. "Sorry for being such a bad person. Wouldn't it be better for you if you just cut off all connections with such a horrendous existence as me? And also, my thoughts are private, and I prefer not to spew them out in public display."

"Don't speak in riddles! Just please… tell me what's wrong!"

Echizen looked at Momoshiro, who had released him and fallen to his knees, in such a defeated position that the boy would never have associated with his Momo-sempai. Truthfully, it wasn't so much as he was mad at Momoshiro for having a girlfriend, or being thicker than the tectonic plates, just that… that…

The feeling that Momoshiro couldn't understand his thoughts, as if he had suddenly realized that the communication between them had been shut for all the while, and if thoughts couldn't get through, then did they really know each other at all? It was tiring to guess, to wait, and to watch someone so full-heartedly that it wears him out. And from the looks of it, Momo-sempai wasn't having any better time, stuck in this stinking mess.

Echizen sighed, "Just forget it. I don't have anything against you. I'm in a bad mood these days, that's all."

Stepping out of circle Momoshiro had trapped him in, Echizen picked up his racket from the ground and left the tennis court, then gathered all his stuff and started walking away. Fuji frowned in concern after the retreating figure. He didn't expect that it would come to such a nasty ending as this.

"Seigaku forfeits, doubles two match St. Paul!" The referee announced, seeing that one of the main character wasn't going to come back any time soon.

"ECHIZEN YOU BASTARD!!" Banging his fist into the ground, leaving bloody marks on his knuckles, Momoshiro roared, but the subject was already too far away.

The St. Paul's pair worriedly crossed over, and Yanagizawa tentatively patted Momoshiro on the shoulder. "It's ok, dane. Even the best of friends fight some times, and you two don't seem that close either, so don't let it bother you, dane."

Momoshiro swirled around and slapped off the hand, almost punching the well-meaning opponent if Oishi hadn't rushed in to constrict him.

"Don't start quacking about us when you don't know a thing!" Momoshiro hissed, eyes a furious shade of madness that made Yanagizawa and Kisarazu take a step back. "Echizen means more to me than a friend, and I'll hail you if you can bring the normal Echizen back to me!"

"Momo, calm down!" Oishi reprimanded, "I think it's best if you sit for a while now. Leave the match up to us."

Coach Ryuzaki grimaced, as a deeply dejected and totally deflated Momoshiro returned from the battlefield, dropping dead under a tree. She was hoping that by letting them have more chances of interaction, then maybe the tension would resolve, but looks like she had made a very wrong bet.

"Players for doubles one, please get ready and enter the courts." The PA system rang out, and Coach Ryuzaki turned an almost uneasy gaze to her best doubles pair. For some reason, Kikumaru's regulars uniform shirt and shorts seemed to have shrunk by five sizes overnight, and even through he was still wearing his usual tights under the shorts, it was barely enough to cover the curves of his thighs.

Not to mention his partner hadn't even looked at him throughout the day. Even the Golden Pair's customary high five before a match starts was forgotten. Her team was definitely in some doubles trouble.

"Seishun Gakuen Oishi Kikumaru pair vs. St. Paul High School Kaneda Kakei pair, doubles one! 3 set match, Seigaku Oishi to serve!"

Coach Ryuzaki had the urge to cover her eyes. And here it comes…


	7. Seigaku vs St Paul II: Cross the Line

**Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! Sorry for the very slow updates... hope the quality (haha, as if there's much of it...) makes up for it. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, especially speadee and aly-puff for the long reviews! Those were the longest reviews i've ever received, thanks! And also to nymphadora1982, Akumi-san and Yoshikochan, for the frequent reviews. **

**I know that it's been pretty heavy on the Golden pair and MomoRyo, but for those TezuFuji fans, don't worry, it's coming up in the chapter after next, hopefully. Pre-warning for a little bit of turbulence, hehe. Hope everyone reads on.**

**Chapter 6 – Seigaku vs. St. Paul II**

"Hoi hoi! Too bad, I'll see you next week!" Kikumaru shouted in glee, as he smashed back a ball using an action that was almost physically impossible.

Oishi watched as his partner landed light as feather, or rather, watched how his shirt allowed air resistance to lift it up, revealing the bottom half of Kikumaru's torso. If the object of his heated gaze hadn't caught the ball, then Oishi was sure it would have hit him on the face, and he wouldn't even have noticed a thing.

"Set Seigaku 6 – 2! 1 – 0! Change courts, St. Paul Kakei to serve!"

"Wasn't I splendid, Oishi?" Kikumaru pounced onto the taller boy, and practically had the other carry him over to the opposite side of the court. Oishi was trying awkwardly to not let his hand slip anywhere between Kikumaru's shoulders, especially not his waist or hips, where the beauty of his curves and muscles were accentuated by the tight clothing he was wearing today.

"Oishi! You are not paying attention today!" Kikumaru complained, pouting right into his partner's ear, his lips grazing 'accidentally' over the edge of that ear. Oishi jumped, sputtering and having a panic attack, almost dumping Kikumaru onto the ground.

"Oishi seems to be really out of sorts today." Inui commented to Coach Ryuzaki, who seemed not the least relieved by their win in the first set.

"Do you have any data on the new player, Kakei Noboru?" She asked back, trying to pierce her eyes through the peaceful countenance of the St. Paul's pair, who didn't even frown on losing 6 – 2.

"Not sure. He's second year, and this is his first time in any type of tennis matches, so there's no record." Inui answered, looking at the mysterious Kakei. He was medium built, with quite delicate features, and a head of hair dyed into chestnut colour. Then, Kakei suddenly turned to the St. Paul's captain, Akazawa, smiled brilliantly and blew a kiss. His partner, Kaneda's expressions promptly blackened. Inui lifted his brow, jotting "queer tastes or emotional manipulation?" onto his notebook.

"Yo! That mushy couple over there!" Kakei shouted in a pleasant voice towards Oishi and Kikumaru, "If you guys don't pay attention, I'll be crushing you! Especially the taller one, don't always put your eyes on your partner's body but on the ball! If you're sexually frustrated, go get a room, don't vent it out here!"

The crowd was between laughing and gossiping, and Oishi wanted to burrow into the ground, anywhere to get away from Kikumaru's imploring eyes. Feeling flustered was the last thing he needed, and also the most abundant element in him right now.

Kakei served, dropping the ball to his right as if making an underhand, then pulled his arm up from below until it finished above his right shoulder. The ball flew out in a radical top spin, not aiming for the left service box like it should, but rather, rushing right into Kikuamaru's face, who was standing on the right. Kikumaru rolled towards the sidelines, ducking under the vicious serve just in time.

"What's he doing?! Has he even forgotten the rules of serve—" Momoshiro's complaint was cut off as the ball made an arc like a boomerang in the air, then hit the ground, right on top of the centre line. His jaw dropped open.

"15 – 0!"

Kakei beamed at the stock still pair on the other end, "That's my Snake serve. I know that there's someone on the Seigaku team can play the buggy whip shots really well. How does mine compare to his?"

"You're still a hundred years too early, boy! Fsshh…" Kaidou hissed from the side, furious that his specialty was "stolen."

"It's not so simple, Kaidou." Inui walked up to his kouhai, "The main goal of a buggy whip shot is to let the ball curve in its path, which can only be achieved with an enormous top spin. It takes tremendous wrist power to generate that, as you clearly know, and the top spin is of course easier to create if the ball is originally in motion. To serve a buggy whip shot is almost unheard of, because the ball is stationary, so no matter how much spin you add to it while tossing or dropping, it is still far from enough. The spins produced by even the best slices cannot compare to that of your Snake shot, and you know how long it took for you to master that."

"Fsshh… I _know_ that! But that doesn't make me less mad at that thief of a brat!" Kaidou glowered at the far too cheery opponent in the court.

Inui stifled a laugh behind his notebook. Ahh, these rare childish moments Kaidou shows…

"Here I go again! Kaneda-sempai, support me well, or else if we lose, I'll really be setting my eyes on Akazawa bucho!" Kakei announced gleefully, arm pulling back and swinging out a reverse snake, this time going for Oishi, who was guarding the net.

With the last ball's experience, Oishi also avoided it in time by moving to the sidelines, which left the midcourt portion empty. Kikumaru rallied back successfully, but the next second, Kaneda had volleyed the ball right into midcourt, where Oishi couldn't make it back in time to keep guard.

"30 – 0!" Kakei clapped his partner's shoulder happily, earning him a hard stare.

"They're beginning to show their true strengths," Kikumaru went up to Oishi, whispering, "If they think that by letting us have the first set would relax our senses, then we're going to show them the true spirit of the Golden Pair! How about the Australian Formation?"

Oishi nodded, then quickly backing out of the secretive and intimate atmosphere Kikumaru had formed between them. The latter pouted, frowning at the disconcerted Oishi, and wondered if he was going a bit overboard. Making fun of his serious partner was interesting, but that didn't involve torturing him mentally. He was far kinder than Fuji, Kikumaru had to admit.

Hunching right over the centre line and in front of Oishi, the Golden Pair formed their specialty, the Australian Formation.

Kakei puffed up his face. The Snake serve isn't going to work with this formation… The Golden Pair's weakness, from what he observed in the previous set… The boy's brows, which had been knitted in a huge knot, suddenly untied themselves, and he tried to suppress the bubble of laughter that was threatening to spill. Now that he thought of it, that awkwardness between the opposing pair was only natural under "this" kind of circumstances… He tossed, signifying a normal serve this time.

Kikumaru made a pointing down hand signal behind his back as the ball hovered in the air, and that was supposed to mean that they switch places as the ball comes over. Oishi saw the signal, eyes naturally followed the direction Kikumaru was pointing at, and blushed, brains crashing to a stop like a computer with virus infection. The tiny halt was more than enough, as Kikumaru ran towards the baseline, and Oishi, totally forgetting his part, only remembered to rush up to the net when the serve had already hit, landed, and rebounded away.

Kikumaru stared at his always-reliable partner, unbelieving.

Kakei waved to them, raising his bright voice so that the whole crowd could hear, "Please pay attention to the game, or else you are being disrespectful to everyone who loves tennis here! Maybe that taller guy over there should think about changing partners, since you can't even concentrate when paired up with the acrobatics guy, and I don't think romance is a good thing between doubles partners. It just drags unnecessary emotions into the game!"

Oishi's face paled.

"Emotional manipulation, it seems, is what that Kakei guy is good at…" Inui muttered. "But it certainly is a good technique to have, if not a bit despicable… Maybe he can consider becoming a physiatrist, but I sure won't go to his clinic."

"Why do you even bother thinking about that little piece of crap?" Kaidou barked, "You take care of too many things."

Kikumaru called for a time-out, his usual sunny face was covered by dark, heavy grey clouds, almost rolling with thunder. If not for that contestants could not leave the courts during match time, it looked as if he would be ready to drag Oishi off to some dirty alley and trash some senses into him. But it didn't matter much to Kikumaru anyway. It wasn't as if he was afraid of being the centre of attention.

"All right, Oishi, I've been waiting for you to tell me yourself, but looks like I can't hold it any longer." Kikumaru clamped his hands on either side of Oishi's face, knowing his partner to be the type who was too shy to make eye contact. The crowded hushed, watching intently, every pair of eyes like daggers stabbing onto Oishi's back.

"Let's talk about this later, ok?" The taller boy pleaded, his face flushing. "I promise I'll tell you everything in private."

Kikumaru shook his head like a child who wasn't going to relent until he got his candy, "You mean after we lose this match? Come on, Oishi, I know what your problem is, so I'm giving you the answer right now. I'm fine with anything you want from me."

Oishi started, "You don't know what you're saying, Eiji!"

"Oh yes, I definitely do." Kikumaru smiled, doing a perfect example of a cat that just got the cream, shifted his hands that were on Oishi's cheeks to intertwine behind his neck, and with a tiny leap, pressed his lips firmly onto the block of stone Oishi had become.

The crowd burst, some whistled, some booed, and some had their jaws unhinged (explicitly Momoshiro, the only one to look surprised out of the Seigaku team).

Oishi, sensible as his disposition was, still retained some notion of their time and place, and gently tried to distance Kikumaru for at least an inch, or else… Inhumane embarrassment might occur. His partner, once out of the tennis courts, seemed most uncooperative, and only tightened his grip after sensing Oishi's intentions. Kikumaru opened his mouth a tiny fraction, and lightly nipped Oishi's lower lip, darting swift little licks and bites over the gradually heating up Oishi.

"My my, it's getting hot, isn't it?" Fuji joked, jabbing Tezuka with his elbow. The taller boy coughed, his face turning a tad red.

"Fifty laps around the school for both of them after this match, for disgracing the school's name."

"Tezuka, have I told you that the way you care about us is really peculiar?" Fuji snickered, and returned to enjoying the show.

The referee, who was frozen in shock, and had finally defrosted at this moment, shouted, "Seigaku! Please compose yourselves! We are still in a match, please return to the courts immediately or you will get disqualified!"

Kikumaru parted unwillingly, and Oishi was released from the fantasy-like state his partner had spun him into. And turned beet red.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about! This is what all normal couples do, and it would only be unusual if you don't feel any desires at all, or are you trying to insult me by showing that you are totally immune to my attractiveness?" Kikumaru said cheekily and made a twirl on the spot. "Come on, let's go finish the game. I really really like you, Oishi, so no matter what you think of feel of me, I'll be honoured. Well, that's for positive thoughts, of course."

Oishi's full blast blushes faded into a warm reddish glow, as his eyes trailed after Kikumaru, hopping back to the courts. He'd always known that his feelings were returned, even if neither of them said it out loud. He should have trusted his partner to understand, just like the amount of acceptance he devoted on Eiji. Infinitely.

"Yeah, let's get the game."

Kakei cursed lightly under his breath, an ironic smile hanging on his lips. "Shit, it's not going to be so easy now… Damn that Golden Pair."

"Set Seigaku! 2 – 1! Seigaku Oishi Kikumaru pair wins!"

Kikumaru pounced onto Oishi, forcing his partner to piggy-back him back towards the warm presence of their team. Kakei wiped the sweat off his forehead, and patted Kaneda.

"See? I told you to not be worried about playing doubles with Akazawa bucho, and not drag me here to fill his place. We could never have a sense of unity like that, not that I want to have that with you either."

Kaneda forced out a smile, and lifted his eyes to look guiltily at their captain.

"Players for singles three please gather on the courts! The match will begin shortly!"

Akazawa stepped in, walked over to Kaneda with a shady face, then gave him a rough push towards the door of the court. "Stop standing there like an idiot. I may excel in singles, but I don't mind playing doubles with you. If you can't find a partner next time, just come talk to me. I'll make sure we won't lose."

Kaneda dazed out for a few seconds, staring almost in awe at his captain, then nodded his head. "YES, BUCHO!"

"If you're done with your sweet chatter, then get out of here!" Kaidou bellowed, stalking into the court.

"Heavy pent up frustrations we have here, eh?" Kakei made a small laugh from the other side of the meshed fence, successfully earning him a "Kaidou stare", which didn't seem to work it's effect this time. "I wonder what's the problem… The people from Seigaku sure have some very unique personalities and emotions."

"Go to hell, you wannabe-shrink!"

Against Kakei's hopes, Kaidou's frustration only seemed to add more tormenting spirit to the player, and in the end, after a match that dragged to seven games out of every set, Akazawa almost didn't have any strength to walk. Of course, it was Seigaku's victory.

Coach Ryuzaki wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, as Fuji won the last ball of this match against St. Paul. Staying with this batch of kids would definitely shorten her lifespan.

………………………………………

The morning after the match against St. Paul, Fuji arrived for practice early with his earnest captain, which made him in time to see Momoshiro cycling into the school, the back seat of his bicycle empty. Those two stubborn little rascals…

Fuji approached his thick-skulled kouhai (Momo didn't seem so slow before, but in this incident with Echizen, Fuji had gained a completely new perspective on this person), and gently initiated his "special aura", one that only Tezuka wasn't afraid of.

"Hi, good morning, Fu, Fuji-sempai." Momoshiro stuttered a bit, a bad foreboding looming over as the older boy stalked closer.

Fuji smiled, as if wanting to ease his nervousness, but had the obvious opposite effect. "Morning. You look pretty down. Feeling bad about the loss over St. Paul?"

"You know it's not that…" Momoshiro began messing up his hair out of frustration, "It's obviously Echizen. I really don't know what he's thinking anymore, no matter if it was yesterday, or the way he totally chased me out of his house with a tennis racket this morning." Fuji hastily swallowed down the bubbles of laughter that was erupting from the hilarious picture. "Someone just tell me what's wrong! Is puberty striking that kid or something?"

"Well, that's partly correct, I guess." Fuji gave his usual enigmatic smile, "Anyway, I'm only here to tell you that –"

"Morning, Fuji-sempai, Momoshiro-sempai." Echizen walked pass, eyes hidden beneath his cap as always. Momoshiro fell silent, staring at Echizen's head as if wanting to snatch that cap off and see through the inner workings of the brain. His brows creased, that greeting of "Momoshiro-sempai" didn't work well with him at all.

"Wait a minute, Echizen." Fuji called, dusting away the moodiness that was hanging like cobwebs over the couple's heads. "I just want to tell you that Coach Ryuzaki is madly furious about your performances yesterday. Our next opponent is Nobihara Gakuen, filled with people from Fudomine, and we can't have you guys out there, playing who-knows-what with each other. Therefore, both of you are suspended from the next match."

"W-what?! How can she do that?! We won't even have enough people!" Momoshiro panicked, and to protect his position in the next match, rapidly grabbed Echizen's hands as a show of friendship. "See, we're fine! Right, Echizen? We've already made up, right?"

The huge smile Momoshiro pasted onto his face cracked as Echizen flung his hands away, giving him an icy stare. "I accept my punishment. At least I'll take the consequences like a man should, unlike someone…"

Awkwardness.

Fuji coughed. Well, the situation had gotten to a point where he couldn't look on anymore… "Momo, last time you mentioned your girlfriend. Who's she? Mind introducing her to us?"

"EH?" Momoshiro jumped as if hit by a lightning bolt. "G-Girlfriend?"

"Yup, the one you boasted to us before." Fuji noticed that Echizen had stopped walking, removing his tennis bag as if checking the conditions of his rackets.

Momoshiro blushed a little, "She's not really my girlfriend. It's just that, a girl in my class confessed to me, and I'm not sure yet how to reply. I just blurted out that she's my girlfriend so that I won't look like such a loser…"

"Oh…" Fuji nodded sympathetically, "then what are you going to do with her? Accept or reject?" Echizen twitched, pulling the strings on his racket so hard that they almost snapped.

"I don't know. I mean, she's a nice girl and all, but… I'm worried that it might affect my performance if I go into a relationship, distractions, dating and stuff."

"All those things don't matter, as long as you like that girl. You see our Golden pair?" Fuji made a motion towards the two that just entered into the Seigaku grounds, happily chattering. "Having them together actually saves lots of troubles, and prevents their game from crashing."

"I guess so… So is Fuji-sempai suggesting that I should accept her?" Momoshiro wavered.

"As long as you like 'that person'." But you'd better make sure it's the correct one, or else our team would be drowned in negative emotions, more than it already is. Fuji looked at Echizen, who had finally finished his racket check-ups.

"Thanks, Fuji-sempai. I'll think about—"

"MOMOSHIRO! ECIHZEN!" Tezuka roared, stomping over. At least that was the image Fuji saw, when in fact, Tezuka just barely raised his voice a notch and paced over. Sometimes, you'd have to take Tezuka the exaggerative way, or else you won't see what he's thinking.

"Yes, bucho…" The two boys answered, trying not to sound so meek that they'd destroy their tough-guy image.

"Do you guys realize how serious your actions were in yesterday's match? To forfeit a match due to personal emotional reasons, where has your fighting spirits gone to? Have you forgotten how hard it is, how we have to push ourselves to the extreme, to go beyond the limit, just for one win? And now you are here, giving the win to the opponent without even a fight! It's unsightly! If you keep this up, I'd advise you to give up on tennis completely, you got it?"

"Yes, bucho…" The boys' heads drooped so low that their chin touched their shirts.

Tezuka took out a rope, somewhere from his back pocket, and held it out with a flat face at Momoshiro. The second year received it in almost a sacred manner. "Cooperation is also very important in our team. Another reason we could win, is because everyone on the team works together towards the same goal. I cannot allow my members to fight among themselves. Now, use the rope to tie your wrists together, then go run 150 laps around the school!"

Fuji used all his might to control his expressions to the normal pacifying smile, and helpfully tied the hands together. Momoshiro didn't even dare to make any sign of exasperation, and Echizen's usual quirks all evaporated.

"What are you waiting for? 150 laps now!"

"YES BUCHO!" They shouted in chorus, and were then off running. The captain's authority isn't something to be underestimated…

Fuji's eyes followed his two kouhai, who seemed to have began a tug-of-war while running, and turned to Tezuka. "As I said, you really do have a weird way of caring for us."

The captain pushed up his glasses and pretended to have heard nothing.


	8. Cat Fight

**Ohisashiburi~~  
It's been a long time since I've written any fanfics, and just thought I should continue on with this one I left half way. Half of this chapter was written right after chapter 6, and the other half recently, so there may be some gap between the characters' actions (for example, maybe Eiji should have a more mature side, than seeming monotonous in personality)  
Thus said, hope everyone can still remember the story...**

**Chapter 7 – Cat Fight**

"Oi, guys, did you hear the rumor?" Mukahi Gakuto leaped onto the bleachers around the tennis courts, where most of the Hyotei regulars were resting. "The rumors that are flying over town right now, about the Seigaku Golden pair!"

"As informative as I am, of course I would have heard. It's about the kissing thing during their match against St. Paul, isn't it, Kabaji?" Atobe yawned, with a grace even he himself had to admire. Of course, everything he did should be admired.

"That's not what I'm referring to! That's so long ago anyway!" Mukahi mercilessly trampled onto his captain's pride.

"By long ago, you mean three days ago?" His partner, Oshitari Yuuhi replied sarcastically, carefully weaving and patching up the hole Mukahi had blasted in Atobe, who was stubbornly remaining silent now. Although he didn't look it, their captain Atobe Keigo was a very sensitive person, fragile and easily hurt. And this part of him was only too cute for him, Oishitari, to bear to say anything about. "Anyway, Gakuto, when did you become so interested in gossips?"

"Well, Hyotei doesn't have a data person like Seigaku and Rikkai, so I think it's high time we get one, and I'm volunteering!"

"Just admit that you like gossiping…" Shishido mumbled from the side, "and if we ever listen to your information, we're all going to die on the courts."

Mukahi sneered, "Take it anyway you want, but if you don't believe, we can all go check this out together! It goes that ever since the last kissing incident, the Golden pair has finally resolved the problem between them, which seems sexual to say the least. So, like all common couples, they go through the same road of progression, and like all unfortunate and scandalous couples, were caught red-handed by their parents. Right now, I heard that the silly acrobat, Kikumaru's parents, are going to the school and complaining about what bad influence the tennis club had been, and are adamant that he quits Seigaku tennis."

"Aww…" By this time, Akutagawa Jirou was interested enough to wake up.

"No way…" The soft-hearted Ootori sympathized, "But can't they see how good a player Kikumaru-san is? How can they even suggest letting him give up tennis? Furthermore, it's not so simple for doubles players to just randomly find another partner! The level of understanding between two people can never be the same!"

"Not to mention that so what if they're together?" Atobe commented haughtily, "I can almost guarantee that 90% of all doubles pairings at our age have some deeper feelings for each other, right, Shishido, Ootori?"

Ootori smiled and blushed slightly, and Shishido knocked him on the head.

"That doesn't go for me!" Oshitari immediately revoked, protecting his innocence.

"And someone tell me why are we here supporting our rivals?" Shishido asked, and the group fell silent, none being courageous enough to try to explain the complex relationship of rivalry, that involves a messy mixture of dislike, distaste, disgust, and friendship.

"Anyway… rather than talking here, anyone wants to go detect the reliability of this rumor?" Taki suggested.

"…sure. The next few opponents up the list are wimps anyway." Atobe finally gave approval after waiting long enough to seem that he wasn't that interested, really.

………………………………………

"Ah! There's the Golden Pair, isn't it?" Mukahi pointed out in a hushed excited whisper. The Hyotei regulars ambushed along the route students walk to go into Seigaku, the most straightforward way of getting first hand information (despite looking silly).

"Yeah, but they look fine to me, lovey-dovey and all." Hiyoshi made a disgusted face at the couple walking, Kikumaru latched onto Oishi's arm, loudly chattering.

"But why is the atmosphere so eerie?" Ootori observed, pointing to a girl who was obviously not in Seigaku, probably a university student from the fact that she was wearing casual clothes, and outright stalking behind the couple. Oishi occasionally cast back uneasy glances, but was always pulled right back by Kikumaru.

Oishi, who seemed to have finally taken enough of the tension, stopped dead in his tracks, and the peeking Hyotei team stopped their breathing with him. "Eiji, we can't avoid this forever. Let's just talk to your family and plead for their understanding, isn't much better than the situation now?"

The girl caught up to them, stared daggers at Oishi, and demanded, "Let go of my brother!" But it was obvious Kikumaru was the one clinging tight as a vine.

The Hyotei spies "Ahh-ed" in realization. Show's starting.

"Why do you even bother to talk to these blind and unreasonable people?" Kikumaru coldly retorted, the typical fear and anxiety when the family finds out about his gender preferences seem to be nowhere on his emotional range right now.

"Eiji! Don't be childish!" Oishi chided, smiling apologetically to the fuming older sister.

"OISHI! Why aren't you the least bit mad when they're being so vicious to you?!" Kikumaru shouted, "I'm not being childish here, I'm just trying to be fair to them, treat them with the attitude they threw on you!"

"They are your family, it's normal for them to be angry, but you can't stay in this enmity forever." Oishi lightly ruffled Kikumaru's hair. "Even if you want to abide by your own principles, there are many less harmful ways than tearing apart the relationship you have with your kin."

"Don't pretend to be such a nice guy, when you're the one who led our Eiji astray!"

"Oh stop whining, Megumi-nee! It's not like I said anything when you brought your disastrous boyfriend home, and you two almost took the house apart with that noise! Oishi and I just kissed, and here you all are, storming out of a teacup!" Kikumaru rebutted, quick as ever.

His second sister, Megumi flushed, "You think I care about kissing?! I don't give a damn about who you kiss as long as it's a girl!"

"Gender discrimination we have here, eh? Didn't the university professors teach you that we are already living in social equality now?"

"All right, I don't care what you say now." Megumi took a deep breath and attempted to look mature, "I'll see you in the principle's office later, and keep your quick tongue until then. Mom and Dad have both taken the day off, and the whole family's here to discuss about this problem with the school, how could they let such a huge problem and disgrace just slip under their eyelids?! We won't relent until they do something about this!"

Kikumaru huffed, "You might as well lock me up in a tower, but I'll grow my hair long and await my prince Oishi to come save me!" and with that, made a face at his sister and walked away with Oishi, still hand in hand, head held high as ever.

"That Kikumaru sure has some guts…" Oshitari whispered, as the Hyotei team relaxed and crumpled into a pile after the main characters of the show had left.

"Looks like the rumor's true then… I didn't expect such anti-homosexual people to be around anymore, especially as open as Japan is nowadays." Mukahi grumbled, seeming sympathetic.

"What, you're concerned that your sexual orientation won't be accepted?" Shishido mocked, "Homophobics will always be here, abiding by the ridiculous social norm that who knows when started spreading around the world. And to think that ancient Rome, China, and even Japan were so open about gay relationships… It's a shame that another group of people has been cast with that 'outsider' label. But honestly, if you really like this person enough, who the hell would give a damn about acceptance and stuff, as long as you yourself can stand strong and tall? I gotta respect Kikumaru for that."

"Never known you to be such a scholar, but taking that you're with Ootori, I shouldn't be surprised." Atobe gave his trademark smirk.

"Oi! What are the Hyotei monkeys doing here? Scamper back to your own grounds!" A deep voice boomed, as Kaidou's head stretched over the hedge to peer down at the disgracefully sprawled bunch on the ground.

"Ah, isn't this the infamous snake of Seigaku?" Atobe greeted to infuriate.

"And I remind you that monkeys are a staple food for snakes, if you can't recall from biology. If you want trouble, go to the tennis courts!" Kaidou barked back, glaring holes into every piece of annoyingly silver uniform.

"Bad mood we have here, eh? So worried about your teammates?"

"Fsshh! Why should I?!" Kaidou hissed fiercely as if burnt, then awkwardly turned his head away, realizing his reactions were too blatantly stating otherwise. "What, you guys are also here to laugh at us in the face, aren't you?"

"No, you've misunderstood us!" Ootori, always peaceful, was eager to stop the childish feud between the schools. "We'll all here to support Kikumaru-san, and we sincerely hope that this incident won't affect their performance this year."

"Why aren't you disgusted like Eiji-sempai's family is?"

"Why should we? It's not like being gay is a crime, that it'll turn you into a murderer or something." Oshitari shrugged, and easily picked out Kaidou's concern in this question, being as perceptive as he is in other people's mental states. Narrowing his eyes, Oshitari asked not so questioningly, "You are worrying about something else, right? I've seen those sort of expressions before, when Shishido first realized that he liked Ootori."

"Hey, don't stir me into this!" The example being used complained.

"Fsshh… What do you mean?!"

"Simple. You are in love, with another guy. And right now, in a deep mental conflict." Oshitari was blunt to say the least, and brash with his Kansai dialect. "May I take a guess? It's definitely someone from your team, since you don't seem like the extremely social type. The Golden pair is gone, that chibi too small, although I don't know if you are pedophilic…" Kaidou's face turned purple, "guess not. You never seem too close to Fuji Shuusuke and Tezuka, so that leaves that Slam Dunk fan and data man. I'm inclining to the former. Am I right?"

"RIGHT YOUR F*&^%*&^" Kaidou grabbed Oshitari's collar and was ready to punch, when his outstretched arm was suddenly pulled back.

"How many times have I told you not to be so rash, Kaidou? And Oshitari-san was only trying to help."

"Y…You heard?!" Kaidou turned, a mixture of horror and embarrassment on his face, as he tilted up his head to look at his sempai in the eyes… glasses. Inui nodded as an answer, and Kaidou released the long-forgotten Oshitari.

Silence. Very, very awkward.

The starting bell rang, and the I-don't-give-a-shit-about-school Kaidou suddenly found fresh awakening desire for class, and started rushing away, only to be hooked back around the neck by Inui.

BEEP! "Kikumaru Eiji of class 3-C and Oishi Shuichirou of class 3-A please come to the principal's office now. Repeat…" The PA system rang out.

"So… um, you wanna go see how Kikumaru and Oishi are doing?" Inui asked, in a feeble attempt to explain why he stopped Kaidou. "I mean, they are our friends, and important teammates, and what happens to them will greatly affect our whole team…"

"Cut the crap! Are you guys coming?" Shishido yelled impatiently, the whole Hyotei team already ahead.

"Fssshhh… You are holding me too tight, sempai." Kaidou muttered, and Inui hurriedly let go. Without a word, Kaidou started trotting towards the principal's office.

With a large foolish smile spread over his face, Inui ran to catch up.

………………………………………

For a family with two grandparents, parents, and five siblings, the principal's room was unusually quiet.

"Kikumaru-kun, your family here has filed a very peculiar complaint to me, saying that you are having… undignified involvements with Oishi-kun, is that so?" The principal broke the silence, seeming less than comfortable.

"Yup, I'm finally dating Oishi. What's wrong with that?" Kikumaru huffed, ignoring the row of queasy faces across from him. His grandparents were apparently feeling they were too old for this new generation romance, his parents apprehensive, his brothers were a mix between disgust and incomprehension, and the eldest sister was ready to spit fire while the other one was almost fawning.

"Thank you for your directness, Kikumaru-kun," the principal treaded carefully, "We have no right or intention to interfere with our students' romances, but as a well-reputed and historical school, we also expect our students to uphold our image, especially, as I understand, both of you have always represented Seishun Gakuin in national tennis competitions. As said –"

"Kyoutou-sensei, talk some sense into our boy!" Kikumaru's father demanded, tired of the long speech. "How can the school accept such immoral behaviour?! There must be something done! Punish them, separate them, after all it is the responsibility of teachers to guide them onto the right path! Keep the bad influence – "

"Our Shuichirou is not a bad influence! Seeing how erratic your son is, it is clear whose fault it is!"

"Mom! Dad! And Ryuuzaki-sensei!" Oishi stared at the three intruders who just barged in, suddenly feeling hard to breathe in this stuffy room where sixteen people were grabbing for air.

Furious that his rampage was disrupted, Kikumaru's father stared daggers at Oishi's mother, a bickering parent-in-laws live action.

"Shuichirou, I know you are a sensible boy. This must be some kind of a sick joke, right?" Oishi's father looked down at the pair of culprits, and stated, rather than asked. "You are the only son in our family, and you should know very well what responsibilities are on your shoulders."

"I'm sorry Dad, but I'm very serious about Eiji –"

"Stop being foolish. I will not have my son being gay!"

"Well then, he won't be. He won't be your son." Kikumaru interjected, standing up and placing himself between Oishi and his father. "If you can't accept him as who he is, I don't see any reason why he should continue fulfilling his duties to you."

"Eiji!" Oishi tried pulling his way too rash partner aside, but to no avail. Kikumaru was never one to back down, not from opponents, not from parents, and not from himself. Sometimes Oishi wished he had Kikumaru's courage to say whatever he had in mind, but that irrationality, just like how Kikumaru can do double somersaults in the air, is something he can never acquire.

Kikumaru's eyes burned a little wildly, shooting flames at anyone who dared glance at him with the slightest disapproval. "I'm saying this to everyone. Don't think that just because you have blood ties or any sort of power control over me, that I should obey your every word. This is my life, and even if I screw it up, I want only to have myself to blame. I know I am childish, but respect my choices, because you can do nothing to change them."

"Eiji…" Kikumaru's mother was on the verge of tears, "We don't mean to despise you or anything, but…"

"It's ok Mom. I've been meaning to say this for some time. I think it's time for me to live out on my own now." Kikumaru smiled, "We are a huge family, and the house is about to burst. Don't worry, I've already got the sports scholarship from school, and my part time job is starting next week. I won't place any burdens on you guys."

"Eiji! But you can't! You're only so young! When have you been planning this? Why didn't you tell us?" Kikumaru's mother startled, her voice rising to a piercing octave. Oishi stared at Kikumaru, the one whom he had always seen as a child. Nothing akin to immaturity was on his face now. He never knew, that Kikumaru thought about moving out, nor scholarship and part time job. Did he miss out too much, or that he had never tried to see Kikumaru for his real self?

"Who's going to take care of you? You can't cook, or do laundry, or…" The anxious mother continued to rant. They'd never expect this to happen.

"It's ok. Oishi will be sharing the apartment with me, right?" Kikumaru turned and winked at Oishi, and the latter was lost in response.

"Shuichirou! Is this true?" And it was Oishi's mother's turn to yell. Speechless, the honest vice-captain looked around for help, and caught a flint of disappointment in Kikumaru's eyes.

"If you want to discuss these things, do them in private. You are just jamming the principal's office and keeping us from working." Coach Ryuuzaki stood out. "I am their tennis team coach, and I don't care how the school wants to deal with them, but I will not have them off my team. Since homosexuality doesn't affect their ability to play, or be good students, I don't see any reason to penalize them." The coach tried sounding confident and supportive, and deeply regretted this action months later. But that's another story.

The principal quickly went along with Coach Ryuuzaki, seeing no other way out of the mess.

"Shuichirou, let's go home and straighten things out." Oishi's father grabbed his son's arm and forcefully pulled the boy out of the office. Oishi glanced at Kikumaru apologetically, and followed his father without any protests.

Taking a deep breath, Kikumaru beamed at his family. "Just let me go free."


	9. Seigaku vs Nobihara: More Than Winning

**I was disappointed, to say the least, after the last chapter. Please, if you like the story, leave me a review. It really motivates me to work harder.  
Thanks. **

**Chapter 8 – Seigaku vs. Nobihara**

"I've got the last box! Is this all, Eiji-sempai?" Momoshiro asked, wiping sweat off his forehead.

"Yup! Wanna come in and have a cup of tea, everyone?" Kikumaru piped cheerfully, jumping up and down inspecting his new apartment, or actually, room. The 1 DK was so small that there was barely space to stand for all the Seigaku regulars. But Kikumaru looked happy enough, planting a kiss on the wall, then Oishi's cheek.

"Nyaa!! I'm so happy! I've finally got a space of my own, our honeymoon suite, right, Oishi?"

The person being asked smiled warily, guilty to say the least. "Sorry that I can't move in with you. My family…"

Kikumaru blinked at him in full innocence, "Of course you're not living here. I just said it that way the other day to calm my Mom, don't worry. Just take this as your secret hideout, your little Eden with Eiji-chan in it, nyaa?"

Oishi nodded, and ruffed Kikumaru's hair.

"By the way, why is Atobe volunteering to pay for the house moving?" Momoshiro asked the question that had kept bothering him.

"Maybe that king of monkeys has a crush on Eiji-sempai?" Echizen piped sarcastically, pulling his hat rim lower to cover his eyes. A quite self-contradicting action it was, to try to catch some attention and ignore Momoshiro at the same time. Momoshiro flinched a little, and attempted to stare through the white hat.

"I'm 99.9 percent sure that is not the reason." Inui kindly cut through the tension, he himself being in a very good mood since Hyotei's secret visit.

"I'm glad to hear that." Oishi laughed, giving Kikumaru a light hug. Fuji watched the happy couple though smiley eyes, although glint in his eyes were anything but warm. Both Oishi and Kikumaru appeared to have matured somewhat after that confrontment in the principal's office. Growing up was the most natural thing at this stage of their lives, but there's a hint of uneasiness, something abnormal, that seemed to be lurking under it all, and Fuji wasn't liking the taste of this.

"All right, everyone, I think Eiji's tired enough after all this moving. What do you say we give him a little rest?" Fuji announced, and started shooing people out of the apartment. Tezuka gave him a deep look before stepping out of the door. The rest of the team followed suit, and started discussing where to hit next for some fun.

Fuji hung back, and waited until everyone was out before shutting the door. Turning around, his blue eyes were so bright that they stung. Kikumaru jumped a little at his friend's serious expression. "What's wrong, Fujiko-chan?"

"You tell me what's wrong. Is this really alright with you? To practically give up everything for Oishi. I was expecting this, but not so soon."

Eiji bounced over and tackled onto his best friend. "I'm fine. Just because I left home doesn't mean I'm going to be a pathetic worm who can't even feed himself. Besides, I've gotta move out someday, with or without Oishi."

Fuji eyed Kikumaru, searching for cracks in his sparkling façade, and found none at the moment. It wasn't Eiji moving out that was bothering him. It was Oishi not moving out together, the sense of unbalance that was starting to appear in this relationship. Maybe he was just overreacting after all.

"You are beginning to sound more like a Mom than Oishi, Fujiko-chan." Kikumaru teased, "You'll make a good wife someday."

"And I would die if I had a troublesome son like you." Fuji laughed and punched Kikumaru off his back. "See you tomorrow for practice. The next match with Nobihara is coming up in a week." Smiling, Fuji closed the door behind him, leaving Kikumaru in a room, for the first time, all by himself.

In the fading sunset, a figure leaned against the wall, right beside the door. A little surprised to see him there, Fuji walked over and gently touched his arm. "Thanks for waiting for me."

"Hm." Tezuka barely hummed a reply, and Fuji's face lit up brighter than the setting sun.

………………………………………

The loudness of cheers for Seigaku and Nobihara was matching up neck to neck. Former Fudomine tennis team members walked into the huge welcome, no longer the silent and unknown bunch. All the Fundomine tennis regulars loyally followed their captain, Tachibana, into the prestigious Nobihara private high school. Over the past two years in high school, the Nobihara tennis team has built up a very strong reputation of being the most harmonious and united team.

Coach Ryuuzaki looked at her team. She had always been proud of her team for their unity too, but recently, it seemed that unity can be a double-edged sword. Her current team can be described in one exact phrase: a bunch of emotional, hormonal and uncontrollable monsters. They were much easier to lead when they were just a group of pure and sweet junior high children. Oh how she missed those times…

She glanced at Momoshiro and Echizen, both seating on the bleachers, the former sulking from his suspension in this match, and the latter trying to treat everything around him as air. Worse come to worse, she'd really have to play counselor with these two. Something like what happened in the last match with St. Paul cannot appear again.

Luckily, all the other members on the team resembled their normal selves. Maybe except for the huge idiotic smile that had been plastered on Inui's face since this morning, like he'd discovered another ten Inui juices. Coach Ryuuzaki shuddered, and god forbid her wild guess to be right.

But at least his good mood is turning into good performance on the courts, together with Kaidou in their doubles two match.

"Hmm… those two really work well together, don't they, Tezuka? Should I make them a regular pair?" Coach Ryuuzaki absently asked the captain beside her, eyes focused on the almost perfect interaction between Inui and one of the most uncooperative members on their team.

"Looks like the viper works even better when tamed, eh, Sumire-chan?" Fuji slid into the gap between the coach and Tezuka, offering his view sweetly. Really, how much more Inui could get? He's practically floating on air after Kaidou passed him his jacket this morning. Fuji rolled his eyes, thinking back to the accidental sight.

Coach Ryuuzaki slanted a glimpse at Fuji, who was acting more like a cat trying to snuggle closer to Tezuka. She was a teacher, and should stop any inappropriate behavior. Coach Ryuuzaki contemplated, hard. No, she was not meddling with Fuji.

"GAME SEIGAKU! 2 sets to 0!" The referee boomed. That was fast.

Inui was stuck between wanting to attempt a congratulatory hug with Kaidou, or act more natural, and ended up with his arms half raised, looking like a moron while Kaidou cast him a secretive glance, and hastened off the courts face flushed. Echizen snickered on the bleachers. At least Inui-sempai seemed to have gotten over his insecurities.

"You guys really have a good team spirit." A foreign voice rang out from behind Tezuka. It was Tachibana.

"That's one way to put it." Fuji greeted, his cheery voice hiding a faint sarcasm. "I'm sure you're not here just because you are too free and decide to detect Seigaku's abilities, isn't it?"

Tachibana shook his head. "People say that I lead the most united team out there, but the truth has long changed. Just look at those two down there. I don't know what to do with them anymore." He turned his head towards the doubles team. Representing Nobihara was Ibu Shinji and Kamio Akira.

Compared to the Seigaku Golden Pair, where the atmosphere around them was bubbling with a pink aura, the Nobihara team was Arctic. The two supposedly best friends weren't coming within one meter radius of each other, not talking, and not even making eye contact.

"Do you want to lose against us so badly that you are sending these two for doubles? Or is this your effort to let them hug and make up?" Fuji quipped, obviously ready to enjoy the show.

Tachibana sighed. "It's embarrassing to say, but they're fighting for my sister's affection. Apparently both of them confessed to An, and she refused both of them. Now, they're thinking it's the other person's fault. Elementary immaturity, but they are barely heeding my advices on this one."

"Love is blind, as they say." Coach Ryuuzaki commented, thoughts trailing back to some of her youthful times… Then rebounded back to her disastrous team chemistry now.

"Best of 3 set matches, Nobihara service play!" The referee announced the beginning of the game.

The Nobihara pair was decent, despite their lack of communication. However, it would take them way more than just decent performance to defeat the current top doubles pair, and it wasn't long before Seigaku had won the first set. It was easy to see the frustration between Ibu and Kamio, and both were trying to glare holes in the other's tennis shoes.

Finally, Ibu caved in. "Let's go over the strategy –"

"Second set, Seigaku service play!" Too bad, the referee didn't exactly give them time.

Ibu growled under his breath. He was going to win this, for bucho and for An, with or without Kamio. He'll just do it alone.

Standing at the back court, Ibu received the serve from Oishi, and immediately returned it to the front court away from Kikumaru. The forespin he used was so strong that the ball bounced back towards the net upon hitting the ground. Kikumaru dived, driving the ball back to Ibu. Hitting again to Seigaku's front court, Ibu continued targeting solely on Kikumaru, right and left until the acrobatic player started to get impatient with this rally and aimed the ball directly towards Kamio.

"Akira, get out of the way!" Ibu shouted, and rushed up, pushing away Kamio who paid no heed to his words. The sound of a racket scraping the ground, and the ball flew past Kikumaru, landing right on the doubles sideline.

"0 – 15!"

"What was that for?!" Kamio retrieved his racket and jumped up from the ground. "You think I couldn't hit a ball like that?"

Ibu shook his head, answering curtly as if there was no reason to explain. "You don't know my plans."

Kamio sneered. "Need I remind you that this is doubles, and _**our**_ plan should involve two people! And what's the point of going so slow anyway? You're taking an eternity to just get that one point!"

"You don't need to know. Just listen to what I say."

Kamio narrowed his eyes. "No, it's time you follow my rhythm. Don't even think about taking the spotlight all for yourself."

Inui raised an eyebrow at the spat the Nobihara pair was having. He had seen them in doubles together before, cooperating quite well in a sense that Kamio was fast, and Ibu cautious, forming a collaboration sort of like Kikumaru and Oishi. They had the potential to be a great doubles pair, but while speed and scheming did make up for each other's weaknesses, they are also clashing in their differences. If there weren't sufficient tolerance and understanding between the partners, it would only result in disaster. Inui shook his head. Internal conflicts seem to be even deadlier in a match than insufficient practice. Should he change their training procedures…

By now, Nobihara's play was already haphazard. Whenever Ibu served, he would keep to his scheme of making Kikumaru run around, and absolutely refused to let Kamio get control of the ball. Vice versa, when it was Kamio's turn to serve, he would use his extreme speed to race around court, trying to outrun Kikumaru and Oishi, and return the ball before they had time to react.

Tachibana almost felt like burying his face into his hands, unbearable to watch anymore.

"At least they're staying out of each other's tactics. Not going for each other's throats is sometimes already considered cooperative." Tezuka commented, deadpanned. Tachibana couldn't even tell if he was being sarcastic with that poker face.

"He means no harm," Fuji translated, "Just that our team isn't doing so great either. At least Ibu and Kamio are still straight."

Tachibana raised his left brow right into his hairline. Tezuka coughed.

Fuji gave an innocent grin. "Anyway, your team doesn't seem to be so cut out for winning this time. You aren't arranging them to the best potential too either."

"Just figured that there's more to life than tennis. If their tennis could patch up their friendship, it's better than any trophy I can get."

"GAME SEIGAKU! 2 – 0!"

As Tachibana passed Tezuka to walk over to his defeated teammates, the Seigaku captain said in a low voice, "You sure it's worth it?"

"Don't you think so?" Tachibana returned, glancing at Tezuka, whose eyes were sweeping across the Seigaku team with such intensity. "Tennis is my life, but those I treasure define my existence."

………………………………………

Tezuka stared at the pristine white wall as the sickening smell of chlorine and antiseptic alcohol crept up his nose. His hands were gripping the towel so hard that his nails were biting through the fabric.

It should be all right, he had seen clearly, that Fuji caught most of the power of the Hadoukyuu with his left hand. He should've been more careful when making the match schedule with Ryuuzaki-sensei. Why in the world did he put Fuji in singles knowing full well that Ishida was in Nobihara's team?! Kawamura wasn't there to block the blow this time.

"I'm sorry, Tezuka-san. I was just too desperate to win, and…" Nobihara's Ishida, the person who first showed the Hadoukyuu to the junior high tennis world three years ago, apologized to Tezuka with a 90 degree bow. The Seigaku captain, however, did not even bat an eye.

_After Ibu and Kamio had lost in doubles two, it was singles three with Fuji up against Ishida. _

_If Fuji still had a weakness, it was his physical stature. No matter how good his counters were, or how talented he was in executing his moves so as to make up for his build, Fuji would still be at a great disadvantage facing players who used brute strength. His naturally slender body did not equip him with the ability to withstand something like the Hadoukyuu. Tezuka had started regretting once he saw the match sequence, but it was too late to change. _

_Singles three had become the pivotal game after Nobihara lost the two doubles match, and Ishida seemed determined to pull his team through to the next round. Although he had promised to never use the Hadoukyuu again in fear of wasting away his arm, he couldn't bear to lose anymore after Fuji cleared the first set 6 – 0, and they were already in the second set 4 – 0. _

_It was Fuji's service, and as the ball hit right on the service line, Ishida roared and mustered all his strengths onto his right arm. The tennis ball was returned like a burning missile, aiming straight for Fuji. Tezuka hoped Fuji would dodge, and for a second thought he would, as tennis prodigy jumped back, only to rapidly switch the racket into his left hand. _

_The ball smashed into Fuji's racket surface, spinning into sparks against the cord, and sent Fuji flying into the meshed wire fence. _

_"Fuji! Stop the match right now!" Tezuka ordered from the sidelines, but Fuji only looked at him and shook his head. _

_Holstering himself up using the racket, Fuji walked back to the baseline, and took out another ball from his pocket, his whole left arm starting to turn red. Simply letting the ball drop from his hand, Fuji served, and the tennis ball disappeared. _

_Tezuka gritted his teeth. If Fuji had hurt his left arm receiving the Hadoukyuu, he was in no shape to perform any more disappearing serves. The spin he had to put on the ball before dropping it would place too much pressure on his left hand. But serve by serve, the ball vanished, giving Ishida no chance to return at all. _

_It was another twenty minutes, and three more Hadoukyuu later, that Fuji won the match. _

_Tezuka rushed into the court, tempted to drag the grinning Fuji away, only he didn't know where to grab Fuji's arm, in fear of causing further injury. After a moment of hesitation, he kneeled down, quickly wound his arm around Fuji's waist, and hoisted the boy up onto his shoulder. Fuji gave a small yelp as his field of vision turned upside down. _

_"I'm bringing him to the doctor! Help me watch the team, Ryuuzaki-sensei!" Tezuka's words lingered, as he already burst out of the courts. _

_Coach Ryuuzaki stared a little, then walked to the referee to clear the mess. _

The doctor office's door opened, and Fuji stepped out peacefully, white bandages wrapping around his left arm. He returned Tezuka's fierce gaze with his usual smile. "I'm ok, it's just a muscle spring on the left arm. It won't affect my play."

Tezuka stood up, staring into Fuji's eyes until the smile faltered a little. And then, his whole face was buried into Tezuka's chest, as the strong arms held him in a firm embrace.

"You're suspended for the next match."


	10. Seigaku vs Moriyama: New Doubles Pair

**Sorry for the delay in update, the previous week was exam week, so I didn't get too much time... **

**This chapter has a large chunk of competition scenes, and I'm still not sure how good I am in describing tennis matches. If anything sounds weird, tell me please~~**

**I am looking forward to the next chapter, because Hyotei is coming up~~ haha, I love them too. Just a thought, which Hyotei pairing do you like the most? It'll be good to get some ideas. Also, I have another one shot collection of TeniPuri that I'm recently working on, and it's all about confessions between each couple. If you're interested, it's called Moving Time. I'll be really happy if you could check it out. (Sorry for the advertisement time. Now back to the main story...)**

**Chapter 9 – Seigaku vs. Moriyama****: The New Doubles Pair**

"Good job all of you in the match with Nobihara." Coach Ryuuzaki boomed, "but do not let your guard down, even though you guys are guaranteed into the Kantou regional after making the top 4 this far! The next match against Moriyama is the semi-final of the Tokyo district competition, and do not underestimate them just because their members have lost to you before in junior high. I heard that Akutsu is back on the tennis team, so you know what to expect." She glared at her team, thinking back to the annoying voice of Banji, the old geezer in charge of Yamabuki, now Moriyama's tennis club. Boosting in front of her? Not in another hundred years!

"You guys must be in your top shape! Now, go practice! And I've especially ordered Inui to make another new juice, hope you guys like it." And at the last sentence, all of the regulars scrammed away as fast as they could.

She caught sight of two figures from the corner of her eyes, and shouted, "Momoshiro! Echizen! I need to talk to you two."

With dreadful faces, the two teenagers followed her reluctantly into the club room.

"Ok, spit it out. What's the problem between you two?" Coach Ryuuzaki went straight to the point, and the two boys looked like someone just stepped on their tails. Echizen huffed, and turned away from Momoshiro.

"Um… I'm guessing it's that…" Momoshiro started uncertainly, "Maybe I've been goofing around too much, that I'm starting to look ridiculous in the eyes of my kouhai. Probably that's why Echizen won't listen to such an ill-respected sempai like me, haha." The older boy tried laughing off the tension, and Echizen just lowered his head some more under the cover of his baseball hat.

Momoshiro ill-respected? That's a first. Coach Ryuuzaki kicked Echizen under the table. "Is that true, Echizen?"

The stubborn boy was making a very blatant show of ignoring her. Momoshiro stood out to ease the awkwardness. "It's ok, Echizen is just unwilling to admit that in my face. But I'm already working hard to change my image, try to be a more mature guy, you know. Even Akemi-chan said that I don't look reliable."

At the sudden appearance of a girl's name, Echizen peered out from under his hat rim. "Akemi-chan?"

"Ah, the girl who confessed to me a couple of weeks ago. I just told her yesterday that we could go out, so she's my girlfriend now." Momoshiro replied cheerily, failing to see how white Echizen's knuckles had become from clutching the side of the chair. "They say that you can't grow up without a good romance, and Akemi-chan's a great fan of you, Echizen. You should meet her. How about we go for burger sometime after practice?"

Coach Ryuuzaki felt like banging Momoshiro's head to the table. There's a certain extent to how dense someone can be, and Momoshiro just broke the record. Even she could see that finding a girlfriend wasn't the best solution, just from the fact that Echizen was almost broiling under his hat.

The shorter boy stood up abruptly, causing the chair legs to scrape across the floor with a hideous sound. "Sure, anything." And stalked out of the room.

"You think it's going to work? That Echizen would share his problems with me if I become more responsible?" Momoshiro asked coach Ryuuzaki, and she glared at him and sighed.

………………………………………

"Ochibi, what's wrong? Your face looks like a train had just run over it." Kikumaru bounced over to the dangerous first year, who was currently emitting as much dark aura as he could.

Echizen turned to look at his way-too-cheerful sempai, and suppressed the urge to punch him for just being so happy. "Momo-sempai has a girlfriend."

"WHAT – "

"Oh, he does?" Fuji seemed to have accidentally heard the conversation and conveniently decided to join in. "So what are you going to do, Echizen?"

Damn his cunning sempais. The first year glared at Fuji's innocent smiley face, and said grudgingly, "Nothing. What can I do? His skull is so thick that he probably didn't get the hints before, so why should he get it now with a girlfriend? I don't really know why I bothered."

"Because you like him." Fuji finally opened his eyes, the shining blue sparkle in the creeping Echizen out just a little. "In fact, I don't think it's all Momoshiro's fault. You've only beat around the bush and never told him straight out how you feel towards him, so you can't really blame him for taking the wrong guess on your feelings. Poor Momo is just trying to please you by getting a girlfriend, so that you'll see him as somebody to rely on."

"That's true," Kikumaru quipped in, "Ochibi is just the type to be too shy to confess, so you just pretend to be nonchalant about everything, which is what that's frustrating the hell out of Momo. Just look at how you behaved in the St. Paul's match. Sheesh, would it kill you to learn how to communicate?"

"So it's entirely my fault now, eh?" Echizen hissed, not acknowledging the guilt that was emerging with his sempai's words.

"Well, at least you should also take some responsibilities for the current mess you've got into. It's not fair to Momo when he knows nothing and has to be on the receiving end of your rage all the time. Face him properly, and solve the problem before too many people get involved or hurt." Fuji continued despite Echizen's darkening face, "If you can't even bear with the embarrassment, then you must be liking Momo only so much."

"You can't get anything without sacrificing something you have first. If that's pride, then so be it." Kikumaru winked, then bounced away with Fuji in tow, leaving Echizen to contemplate their words. The boy knitted his brows together, and kicked a tree trunk dully.

………………………………………

Echizen looked at the player order for their match against Moriyama, and was sure Coach Ryuuzaki was out to get him. He was in doubles two again, with Momoshiro. What made his eyes bulge even bigger was that Akutsu was also placed in doubles two, together with Dan Taichi. If he remembered correctly, he's that tiny ex-manager for Yamabuki.

"Wow, that Akutsu is playing doubles?" Oishi said in amazement. "He's one of the most… independent player I've ever seen."

"Yeah, Yuki-chan said that this Taichi-kun has been a really good influence on Jin. I've been meaning to see him." Kawamura added enthusiastically.

"Even Akutsu is playing doubles now… Ochibi, you can't lose to him, can you?" Kikumaru sniggered, Fuji's little sadism rubbing off on him.

"Let's go, Momo-sempai. I'm not going to go easy on them today, and you'd better not drag me down." Echizen said in his usual cool manner, but counting that it was the first time he had initiated a talk with Momoshiro in two weeks, the sempai was almost jumping with happiness even though the comment was nothing but sarcastic.

Momoshiro slung an arm over Echizen's shoulders, "As if I've ever lost to you in terms of fighting spirit." And the two walked into the court together.

Kikumaru stared after them for a while, then whispered to Fuji, "There's definitely some changes in ochibi's mind. Just hope that he won't be too extreme."

Fuji smiled enigmatically, "But then, when's Echizen not extreme?"

"Doubles two match starts now! Seigaku Momoshiro Echizen pair against Moriyama Akutsu Dan pair!"

Echizen locked his eyes onto the silver haired monster, who stalked into the courts with Dan following beside him like a puppy. First casting a glare at the referee, Akutsu sneered as his victim was visibly shaken. Arriving at the opposing side of the net, the two players' glares clashed, and vulgar as ever, Akutsu raised his racket high above his head to slam down at Echizen. But the little déjà vu moment was quickly ruined by an admonishing cry.

"Akutsu-sempai!" Dan had latched himself to Akutsu's elbow to stop his movement. "You shouldn't hurt Echizen-san!"

Akutsu scowled at Dan, and all of the audience were holding their breath in fear that violently inclined teenager was going to lash out at the kid with puppy dog eyes. However, Akutsu simply lowered his arm and mussed up Dan's hair.

"Che, I'm not going to hit him anyway." And walked towards the baseline.

Dan smiled apologetically at the Seigaku pair, "I'm sorry, sempai's just shy and can't express his feelings well. He's actually very happy to have a match with Echizen-san again, desu! And can I have smooth?"

Momoshiro rolled his eyes and twirled the racket. Akutsu, shy? This kid had a bad case of hallucination.

"Seigaku service play! Echizen Ryoma to serve!"

Echizen studied his opponent, and knowing it was Akutsu, started off relentlessly with a twist serve. Akutsu caught it easily, and ran up to the net immediately after returning the shot, leaving the back courts completely unguarded. Both-up strategy, eh? The only way to get past the two in front was… Momoshiro narrowed his eyes, dragged out his racket, and did a lob that was enough to make Oishi proud.

Akutsu smirked, and crouched down low. "I was waiting for that, kiddo. Taichi!"

"Hai!" The short boy shouted enthusiastically and ran towards Akutsu. With an energetic leap, he stepped onto Akutsu's back like leaping over a hurdle, soared into the air, and caught Momoshiro's volley midway. The ball was slammed back onto the Seigaku side.

"0 – 15!"

Echizen's eyes widened by the slightest fraction. "Hm, yaru jaa…"

"If Akutsu could even play doubles, we can be the next Golden Pair, eh, Echizen?" Momoshiro smirked, patting Echizen's shoulder, "A smash like that shouldn't be much trouble for you."

"I wouldn't assume that if I were you, Momoshiro-kun." Moriyama's Lucky Sengoku waved from the sidelines, a friendly gesture Momoshiro pointedly ignored.

"What do you mean by that?" Inui came over to Sengoku, notebook in hand.

Being the happy-go-luck person he was, Sengoku didn't really mind sharing secrets with his opponents. "Ever since that match that made Akutsu quit tennis, Taichi had aspired to become a tennis player. However, he certainly isn't Echizen Ryoma, and his only advantage was being able to jump very high. Putting such a player in singles would be suicide, but not putting him in matches would hinder his progress, so the only other way was doubles. But poor Taichi, nobody wanted to partner him because he'd only drag them down. I would have loved to do the job, but Banji couldn't allow me off the singles list. So there came Akutsu again. I don't know how much charm Taichi has on that rockhead, but enough to pull him back into our team, and act as a personal coach for that little boy."

"Ahem, I'm not here to write a biography. Can we go back to the question?" Inui coughed, cutting off Sengoku's blabber.

"Oh that." Sengoku smiled sheepishly, "Because of the height of Taichi's jump, even though he doesn't have lots of strength, the ball will still come down heavy. Law of gravity or something. But even if you can return the smash, there's still –"

"Drive B!" Seigaku's enthusiastic cheerleaders, mostly the Horio trio exclaimed, as Echizen slid forward and drove the ball in a B shape over to the opposite side before Dan could even land from the previous high smash.

"You think you could fool me by this trick again?!" Akutsu shouted, and with a sprint his whole body flew backwards as if sucked back by some invisible force, and caught up with Echizen's drive volley before the ball could hit the ground second time to fully form the B shape. Momoshiro's eyes widened. With that position bent back like that, it was impossible for Akutsu to hit a straight ball, and even if he could, Echizen was right in front of him. Right side! But just as Momoshiro ran a step to the right, the ball whooshed past his left foot.

Echizen's hat was on the ground, blazed off by the ball as it whizzed right past his face. A perfectly straight shot.

"Set Moriyama! 6 – 2!" The first set was taken by Moriyama like a breeze.

Sengoku smiled in an all-knowing way. "In doubles, it's best to use both-up strategy where both players stand in front of the net. It's the most aggressive play, and can probably volley off any shot, except a good high lob."

"However, Dan's jumping ability and the pair's body stature differences overcome this weakness oddly well." Inui continued, "But even if there are opponents who could still return the high smash –"

"It's called the Shooting Star. I made this name myself." Sengoku beamed.

"Shooting Star, whatever. After their smash, both of them would wind up on the same side of the court, and if the opponent could catch the smash and return it to the empty side of the court, they would still be over. Echizen is obviously good enough to return the Shooting Star, but Akutsu's physique… it's simply breathtaking to watch."

"It's not good to go praise the opponent, Inui!" Kikumaru had apparently been eavesdropping, "I still believe cooperation to be the best weapon in doubles, so it's not over yet for Ochibi and Momo!"

Inui pushed his glasses. "Cooperation huh? I think it's better to pray."

Back on the court, it was break time in between sets. Momoshiro took a big gulp of water, and dumped the water bottle down in frustration. "It's only them smashing down on us, I don't even have a chance to use my dunk smash! They're very careful about not playing a lob. And I keep going in the wrong direction! Shit! I don't know how to do the split steps like you."

Echizen was quiet for a moment, then asked out of the blue, "Do you think you can catch their combined smash?"

Coach Ryuuzaki watched them from the corner of her eyes. She had considered hinting them, but life's no fun without some trips and falls. Moreover, anything that would get those two to communicate was good.

Momoshiro thought about the question. "I think I can, if I stand a little backwards and use both hands…"

Echizen waved for Momoshiro to bend down, and whispered a string of stuff into his ear. The opponent pair looked on from the other side, and Akutsu sneered.

"No matter how much planning and whispering around the back, there's no chance they're going to come close to beating us."

"But the way Echizen-san returned our Shooting Star was amazing too!" Dan chattered, tagging on to the side of Akutsu's shirt. "That's the first time someone has caught our smash! I've never had a match with such a strong pair before! Thank you, Akutsu-sempai, for playing doubles with me. I know I'm just dragging you down, and you could be so much more brilliant in singles, but –"

"Don't feel bad, Dan-kun," Moriyama's coach, Banda-sensei (also Banji for short) cut in, "You're the reason Akutsu-kun is on the court right now. If not for you, he wouldn't even bother to show how brilliant he is. Right, Akutsu-kun?"

"Don't make ridiculous assumptions, you old geezer." Akutsu snapped, and pulled Dan back onto the courts.

"Doubles two second set! Moriyama Akutsu to serve!"

The Seigaku pair also returned, but to everyone's surprise, both of them took position at the service line. Dan looked up at Akutsu, a little confused, but was reassured as Akutsu served, firm and powerful as always. Echizen caught the serve, returned it to Dan, and immediately turned around and started running towards the back court. Spotting the blind spot on Echizen's right, Dan hit the ball right at the doubles sideline. There was no way Echizen could return that with his back turned –

The ball flew over the center of the net in a perfect cross to Moriyama's right front court, too far away for Dan to catch up from the left. It was Momoshiro. He had already moved to the center when Echizen turned to run, but the opponent was too caught up in Echizen's surprise movement to notice Momoshiro's advance, and that the shorter boy's blind spots were already covered by his partner.

"That's it, Ochibi, Momo!" Kikumaru danced around, "Lure them into your trap!"

The Seigaku pair kept up the strategy, and this time, Echizen reached the baseline successfully. The tennis ball came to him, and as if purposely challenging the Moriyama pair, played a lob.

"You just never learn, eh, kiddo?!" Akutsu shouted as Dan smashed down.

"It's you who's not learning!" Momoshiro yelled, balancing his weight on the left foot and swung both arms forward to withstand the impact of the Shooting Star. "AAHHH!" With his roar, the ball blazed forward and left a dark smudge right on Moriyama's baseline.

"Game Seigaku! 1 – 0!"

"Don!" Momoshiro made his trademark victory sign at the glaring Akutsu, then swirled around and rushed excitedly to Echizen. "Did you see that? I returned the Shooting Star with my Jacknife!"

"Ah, good work, Momo-sempai." Echizen's lips curved up just the tiniest bit. Momoshiro gawked a little too obviously at his partner's expressions, and received a kick in the shin.

"It's a good strategy they're using, isn't it, Tezuka?" Fuji asked for their captain's opinions like always.

"Hm." Tezuka nodded, "It's unusual that Echizen is willing to be the defence, supporting Momoshiro's attacks."

"Because only Echizen could deal with Akutsu's ability to hit the ball after seeing the opponent's movements. It would be much more efficient for Echizen to be the defence, although his pride has always put him on the aggressive role." Fuji analyzed, "It's great, that Echizen's beginning to learn to put the team's position before his own ego."

The Seigaku pair had gotten the second set using their new tactic, and it was up to the last set to determine the winner. Even though Coach Ryuuzaki had confidence in her youngest player's abilities, she still couldn't stop her temples from throbbing. Doubles was more than an individual's act or even a few ideas for cooperation. She had put the two of them in doubles to let them learn, and they had, but was this spur of the moment enough to win?

"You know, Ryuuzaki-sensei," Banji turned to her with a smiley face, "For every player that goes onto the court, there are reasons supporting them, reasons that they cannot lose. For doubles, that's obvious. Each person is carrying the dreams of two on his shoulders, and what better motivation is there than his partner?"

Coach Ryuuzaki looked at the game at hand, and had to admit to that. Indeed, her students' willpower and competitive spirit were keeping them up with a good fight, but Akutsu and Dan's presence were totally different. They were taking in their opponents' every move, but were even more aware of each other's actions and reacted accordingly. She could clearly see the bond, something that was always visible between her Golden Pair, and also something that the current pair lacked.

It wasn't soon before the Moriyama team spotted the loophole in Momoshiro and Echizen's plan. When it was Akutsu's turn, his shots would all be aimed at Momoshiro, to strike in the opposite direction after Momoshiro had decided to move. Meanwhile, Dan would always hit to the back courts to keep Echizen from moving up. Echizen could only watch, as Momoshiro ran again and again to miss the ball.

"Match Moriyama Akutsu Dan pair! 2 sets to 1!" The referee announced, and Momoshiro swung his racket into the net.

Sensing that Echizen was walking up towards him, Momoshiro looked down guilty at his partner. "I'm sorry, Echizen. If I had been able to catch up with Akutsu…"

"It's ok, Momo-sempai," Echizen took off his hat and looked at Momoshiro straight in the eyes. "We don't have as much experience in doubles, nor are we aiming to be a good doubles team. There's always some sort of compatibility between two people, like how you can form a good team with Eiji-sempai or Kaidou-sempai. We just don't have that, so there's nothing to apologize for. It's natural that we lost." And he turned to walk towards the net to shake hands with Akutsu and Dan.

"That's not like you to say that! It's not like you… to admit defeat to anything! And who says we have bad compatibility?! We're best buddies, aren't we?!" Momoshiro shouted into Echizen's back, as the nasty feel of losing, the regret that he could have done better, and some unknown, bitter feeling clotted his mind. He walked off the court, ignoring the ceremonial handshakes.

"Oi, kiddo, you guys have some issues, don't you?" Akutsu scowled at the figure rudely leaving the court.

"Yeah, Echizen-san! It's not good for doubles partners to quarrel!" Dan quipped in, huge puppy dog eyes looking expectantly at him.

"Don't worry, I'll sort it out for good." Echizen smirked at the odd concern coming from people who he was just battling minutes ago. "And don't give me those worried faces. Savour the feeling that you've just beat ore-sama."

Akutsu snorted, and shoved Echizen's hat rim down.

………………………………………

"Momo-chan! You've done a great job already, so don't feel down!" Kikumaru tried cheering up his kouhai, who was sitting on the ground in a slump.

"Momo-sempai," Echizen came up, and plopped himself down beside his senior. Kikumaru backed away considerately. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I was being presumptuous, and we actually cooperated well during the second set. It's just… I was in a pretty bad mood swing, and sorry if I've been a brat, but I've cleared my mind up. Sorry for making you feel uncomfortable, Momo-sempai."

Momoshiro neither spoke nor even look up at these words, only reached out and wrapped his arms around Echizen in a headlock.

"You know, that's the first time you've apologized to me." Momoshiro's eyes sparkled with laughter, "Our little ochibi is growing up."

"Shut up! And you're suffocating me, Momo-sempai." Echizen complained, but made no move to struggle out of Momoshiro's grasp.

………………………………………

The doubles one match was starting, with the Seigaku Golden Pair against Moriyama's simple combination, Minami and Higashikata. As the Seigaku team focused their attentions on the court, a sudden voice rang out from behind.

"A nice match, it was. Who'd have thought Moriyama has such a strong doubles pair?" And Atobe stepped out from behind a tree. Then one by one, the Hyotei team emerged from the shadows of the bushes.

Momoshiro jumped. "Sheesh you guys, what are you, stalkers?"

Atobe waved him off, and stared straight at Tezuka. "We're just here to kindly tell you guys that we just won in the last match, and we'll see you in the Tokyo district finals. Hyotei is going full force this year, even if it's just the district round, so prepare yourselves."

Tezuka kept up the glaring match for a while before deciding it looked too childish. "We'll see you then." He broke the contact, and with a brisk wave of his hand, led the Seigaku team away. Fuji cast another glance at the Hyotei agglomeration, and then caught up to Tezuka, frowning deeply.

"So you think what Coach Sakaki said was true, about Tezuka?" Oshitari came up and quietly asked Atobe.

"Do you think I can tell just by looking?" The Hyotei captain returned, not so good-humouredly. "We'll just have to see."


	11. Sorezore no Nayami

**The title of this chapter means "Everyone's unique problems", but that just totally sounds off in English, and I couldn't really find a suitable phrase... The Japanese one sounds much better. **

**Just a reminder, that I'm following the manga TeniPuri storyline and characters, so too bad, Josei Shonan's characters and Ryoga and all won't appear. As much as I like Kishimoto and Wakato, the manga storyline is much easier to follow. But I may use tennis moves from the anime, just in case my ideas run blank. **

**Hope everyone likes Hyotei in this chapter. I love Atobe~~~**

**Chapter 10 – Sorezore no Nayami**

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! The repetitive sound of a tennis ball bouncing against the floor and hitting the racket resounded through the empty public tennis court. It was getting dark, and no one was interested to play at such a time, except the pair standing in the last rays of illumination from the sun.

The rally had been going on for a full ten minutes, and the match for almost an hour, but only one game had been played. Finally, with a soft hiss, the ball lightly dropped over the net and skidded backwards as full pulled by a miraculous force.

"15 – 0, you could have earned this point way faster if you'd use your zero drop shot from the start." Fuji said from across the court, picked up the ball and walked over to the bench even though the set is not even finished.

"Fuji?" Tezuka asked, puzzled, since his opponent seemed to have no intention of playing any further. Then after a pause, walked over to the bench where Fuji sat.

"Why aren't you using your full force against me?" Fuji said, a question he'd always ask after each secret practice with Tezuka, but he'd never received an answer. And he was getting a little frustrated. He knew, and felt honoured and special that only he knew, that Tezuka couldn't initiate his Selfless State anymore, and he used to believe that maybe with a little more challenge, the competitive spirit in Tezuka would reawaken by itself. But it looked like that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"I don't know." Came the same reply as always.

Fuji sighed. "There's no point in being subtle anymore. I really want to help you recover, but I don't even know what is the reason causing this barrier in your mind. And we are running out of time. Do you think you are in a position to match up against Hyotei now?"

Tezuka thought for a moment, and shook his head. "It takes more than the Tezuka Zone and zero drop shot to deal with Atobe. And I'm referring to the Atobe I know three years ago."

"Because while he was improving, you were unable to break through, and instead, fell backwards, right?" Fuji smiled, his blue eyes peering through like sharp razor blades. Tezuka jolted, as if someone just stabbed him with a needle.

"I'm not trying to aggravate you, it's just that I've been practicing with you for quite a while, and nothing is working. Exactly what happened in Germany? Lack of competition? It's quite disheartening to realize that I'm not enough of a challenge to you, Tezuka."

"It's not that!" The captain cut in sharply, angry that Fuji could devalue himself like that. "You are one of the best players I know of."

"Then what is it?" Fuji demanded. "The team may be strong enough to win the matches without getting to singles one so far, but you can't evade from it forever." He turned to Tezuka, and gently cupped the captain's face so that his gaze wouldn't waver and look away. "Just tell me, anything you know, and we'll find a way out of this definitely."

Tezuka took down both of Fuji's hands, and kept holding them within his own. "You know, to everyone, I may seem like a really stoic person, whose personality doesn't even bend, hard as a rock. But I'm not as tough as I seem. When my arm was in rehabilitation during the third year of junior high, I couldn't lift my arm above my shoulder. At first it was because of the injury, but I still couldn't lift it up even after rehabilitation was over, simply because the memory of the pain when my arm broke down during the match with Atobe persisted, the fear building up a psychological barrier in my subconscious. Luckily I was able to break through it just before the nationals. I'm afraid it's the same situation this time, but I don't even know

"You know, it's not because you are weak that you have a mental barrier." Fuji chided, patting Tezuka's hand as if comforting a small child. "Building subconscious mental blocks are just a natural way of self defence, as somewhere in your heart, you have something of such importance that you are striving to protect even when your mind has yet to realize its true value. You wanted your arm to heal in time to join us for the nationals, but with the way you always push yourself, you'll definitely come back to us even before full recuperation. It may seem that you are pushing yourself for Seigaku, but that's just your selfish opinion. Have you ever thought about us, and that would we be happy if you sacrifice your whole future career for us? And I'm glad that at least your natural instincts were sensible enough consider our feelings, and stop you from hurting yourself, for our sake."

Tezuka frowned. "You're running in circles that I don't understand."

Fuji chuckled, his eyes starting to twinkle with excited sparks. "Then let me use an easier example. You remember that in junior high, I had a match with you in first year, made you promise that you'll battle me again after your arm heals, but never had the intention to challenge you again after your recovery?"

"You were so full of confidence in your skills, that you never played seriously until it came to the nationals." Tezuka smiled wistfully, rememorizing. "I waited for your challenge, but it seemed that you've lost all of your persistence with winning, and wasn't interested in knowing who's the stronger one among us."

"You know why I lost interest in winning?" Fuji asked, and Tezuka shook his head.

"It's because I was afraid." The shorter boy smiled, the sparkle in his eyes heating up, not solely from excitement anymore. Tezuka could feel Fuji's breathing starting to shake, his exhalations wavering, sending uneven puffs of air onto his chest. "I was unconsciously afraid of the outcome if we had a match. How would your position of a captain stand if I win? Would you feel uneasy beside me? But if I lose, how much value would a defeated opponent still have in your mind?"

"You're worrying over nonsense." Tezuka wrapped his arm around Fuji's shivering form, the role of the comforter and the one being comforted taking on a sudden reversal.

"It's not nonsense!" Fuji rebuked, his hand clutching onto Tezuka's shirt tightly. "I didn't realize it then, but that was my barrier, trying to protect myself from getting hurt by escaping from the faceoff. Either way, the outcome of our match would affect our relationship for the worse, and I couldn't bring myself to do that. It would be too hard to go on, knowing that I've lost any chance of gaining your affection."

Tezuka continued stroking mechanically down Fuji's back, his mind in temporary information overload and unable to wrap around what Fuji just said.

The shorter boy laughed, the dumbstruck expression on Tezuka was priceless. "Tezuka you rockhead. I just confessed to you, if you didn't notice."

Tezuka coughed, twice. "Y… Yeah…" He stammered, detaching his hand immediately from Fuji, and continued to sit straight and hard like a rock. Except for the fact that rocks don't turn red.

Fuji's face bloomed into a full-hearted smile, and reached out to tangle both hands into Tezuka's hair. "Should I take that as your acceptance of my love?" He said in an exaggerated tone, and hopped in front of Tezuka to completely block his line of vision. "Deal?" And quickly planted a kiss on the captain's lips. They were softer than Fuji had expected.

Tezuka finally turned to look straight into Fuji's eyes, the stoic expression slowly loosening into a somewhat exasperated smile. "You really know how to mess me up, Fuji Shuusuke." And reached out a hand and pressed the shorter boy back closer, until their foreheads touched. A grain of satisfaction shone behind Tezuka's eyes to see Fuji's rare look of surprise, and then captured Fuji's lips in a much longer and deeper kiss that sent the poor victim totally sagging into the bench.

When Tezuka finally let go, Fuji took a while to get back his breathing and let his cheeks cool down until they didn't resemble tomatoes anymore, then burst out laughing. "You are more of a swindler than Niou of Rikkai Dai, buchou."

"I can't always let you be on the offensive and lead the pace of the game." Tezuka replied as if discussing a tennis match.

"Hm… So you do know how to joke." Fuji teased, earning himself a soft glare. "But, joking aside and back to the topic, if you got my previous point, can you try to analyze what's the root of your mental barrier right now?"

Heaving a sigh, Tezuka looked into Fuji's soothing blue eyes and nodded. "I guess I couldn't initiate the Selfless State because I lost my will to win back in Germany. I know my goal is to become a professional tennis player, but that wasn't enough to motivate me. Every new opponent I met, I would compare them to Seigaku's rivals, and none of them would seem challenging anymore. Once I lost the spirit to beat them, because they just seemed too easy, I grew to not mind losing just so that I could get out of the match faster. That doesn't even sound like me, does it?"

"Well, I only know the Tezuka who's with us, as the captain of Seigaku. So you missed us?"

"Of course." Tezuka answered frankly, "Thinking about you guys, and that I can lead Seigaku to the nationals again, were the only aspirations left. That's why the coach told me to come back early. I would have had no improvements in Germany anyway."

Fuji thought for a moment, and as the lights around the court lighted up, his enigmatic smile reappeared. "Tezuka, you are our pillar, but even the strongest pillar would lose any meaning if there's no roof for it to support. Your sense of responsibility and the identity as Seigaku's captain were too strong, that you couldn't live out of them after you've left us. I'm not sure to be happy that we mean this much to you, or disheartened that we are actually the reason blocking your growth."

Tezuka observed Fuji's smiley face, and this one, unlike his other masks, had a peculiar but attractive aura. "You seem happy enough to me."

"You saw right through me." Fuji chuckled, a sly glint in his eyes, the one mischievous little devils wear. "Since you are gullible to come back, I won't let you get away again. I'm not even going to let you consider transitioning into a new identity independent of us. You'll have to be Seigaku's captain, as well as my boyfriend, for good."

"Your threats aren't very scary, you know? Even Atobe can manage better." Tezuka raised an eyebrow, and Fuji laughed, so hard that he fell into a pile into Tezuka's lap.

"Yes, sir. We'll get to practicing immediately. We can't have Hyotei overtaking us, can we?"

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! The sound of tennis balls hitting the ground restarted.

………………………………………

With the district final against Seigaku just around the corner, the Hyotei tennis club members were less than focused to say the least. In particular, the third years. For one, Jirou wasn't sleeping but staring into space on the bleachers; Shishido had managed to step on Ootori's foot three times while practicing pile mirage; Mukahi had jumped up and crash landed into the net; Oshitari's hits always landed out of bounds, and Atobe hadn't called himself ore-sama for the whole day. Hyotei's coach, Sakaki was overseeing all this with one eye closed, or else the Hyotei regulars would have been totally renewed within a day.

This eerie gloomy atmosphere spread throughout the courts, and soon, Ootori couldn't take it anymore and called for a break.

"Shishido-san, is everything all right?" He asked cautiously, trying to wrap a caring arm around Shishido's shoulders, but was pushed away, and the senior stomped off over to the water fountain.

"What is it with all the sempai today?" Ootori snatched hold of Hiyoshi, the only normal looking one strutting around with his weird sense of arrogance.

Hiyoshi looked at him as if he'd been living on another planet. "You really are slow. Don't you know, the third years just got their post high school graduate designation forms yesterday."

"Post high school graduate designation form?" Ootori repeated to let the phrase sink in. "But there's still lots of time before graduation, and aren't we all going to Hyotei University anyway?"

"Says who?" Hiyoshi hissed, "You should know how many rich kids are in Hyotei, and what do parents with an over abundance of money want to do? Buy a position into those American prestigious colleges if possible. Furthermore, it's not only about the university. What faculty do you want to go into, what future career do you want to pursue, they have to have an idea in order to fill in those forms."

"It seems really important, but what could be even bigger than an upcoming match against Seigaku right now?" Ootori still couldn't grasp the concept.

Hiyoshi looked at him sympathetically, "For example, deciding if you're still going to play tennis after high school."

"W…What?! But isn't everyone in the regulars going to become professional tennis players?" Ootori gaped, the image of his teammates doing anything other than tennis was unrealistic.

"You'd better not come to conclusions so naively. Of all the good amateur players in the world, how many are making it into the professional league? Think about what you have to give up to achieve that. Third year of high school is nothing like junior high. This may really become the last year of seriously playing tennis for many of our sempai."

"I… I'm sure Shishido-san isn't one to give up tennis!" Ootori tried to defend his doubles partner, and convince himself that Shishido wasn't one to just throw away his passion for tennis. "In fact, I'll go confirm with him right now!"

Hiyoshi snickered, "You are so simple-minded. Go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Eager to get away from the frightening prospects Hiyoshi's was presenting, Ootori hurried away in search of Shishido. But his sempai was no longer by the water fountain, or anywhere near the tennis courts. He tore through the school building hallways to no avail, and finally decided to try the garden, when his ears caught two familiar voices coming from a bench in a secluded area of the school's backyard.

"So, what prospect did you put down on the form? Some professional tennis training club off in Europe?" The rich Kansai accent was unmistakably coming from Oshitari.

The one being questioned didn't bother answering, "What about you? I didn't expect your family to have stayed in Tokyo for so long, counting the number of times you moved before coming here." It was Atobe, with his silky voice.

"Well, I took a liking to Hyotei, its reputable tennis club, and a certain captain who announced that he was going to be the king of Hyotei on the first day of his first year." Ootori was sure Oshitari was flirting, but why he was doing it to their captain was beyond the second year. There was a fluttering sound of paper being exchanged, and Oshitari raised an eyebrow.

"Harvard? It certainly suits you, but I didn't know they train professional tennis players."

"Neither do I." Atobe replied with a wry smile. "I see that you're aiming for medical school? That'll take quite some preparation."

Oshitari sighed exaggeratedly and used the chance to swing an arm over Atobe's back. "What else can I choose when my father's the head surgeon of a huge hospital, and my mother a family doctor? Help me find a way out of this, Atobe-_buchou_. I want to go on playing tennis with you forever." Oshitari dropped his head onto Atobe's shoulder, feigning helplessness.

Atobe slanted a glance at him, and swatted the hand that was moving to sensitive areas away. "As the captain, I need to know if you will still have the time to practice and make it to the nationals with us this year. I won't push you to make time for tennis, but I suggest you drop from the regulars as soon as you finalize your decision on pursuing med school."

"Nah, don't be so cold." Oshitari continued trying, but Ootori had already run away from the scene.

He hadn't want to know, that their captain, one of the strongest tennis player in the Japan high school level, wasn't planning to pursue tennis, nor that Oshitari might even give up his hard-kept position on the regulars if he starts preparing for the entrance exams. If the two members with most prominent chances of success at making the professional leagues were not even going to try, then what did that leave the rest of the team?

Ootori stopped running, no longer eager to find Shishido, maybe even afraid to know what his favourate sempai was filling in on the dreaded form. But things always come when you least want it to, and as Ootori slowly walked back to his club room locker, Shishido was sitting there right by the locker.

"Ah… Shishido-san, I was looking for you." Ootori started, but didn't even get a single recognition from Shishido. Hesitantly, he walked forward, until he saw a crunched up paper ball beside Shishido's feet. Picking it up and spreading it out, a blank post-graduate proposal form unfolded.

"This…?" Only one word came out, hanging in the air, as Ootori didn't even know what he was going to ask himself.

Shishido grunted, mumbling in an annoyed voice. "Can't you see for yourself? Are you also here to tell me what you're expecting me to put on there? Like, a professional tennis player?" He stifled a bitter laugh, "Don't you think that would be dreaming too big? I'm a high school senior already, isn't it time to wake up from dreams? I am good in tennis, but good enough to make it pro? Don't think so."

"What are you talking about, Shishido-san?!" Ootori shouted, seeing the way his sempai was abusing himself was heart-wrenching.

"That's what they're all saying, isn't it?" Shishido yelled back, jumping up and pulling Ootori by the collar, "The teachers, classmates, neighbours, your parents, aren't that what they are all thinking behind your back? Well, excluding parents. They just say it straight to your face, that you're just a normal boy, nothing exceptional, so why risk your whole life on something so fickle like pro sports? It won't last you forever anyway. Doctor, lawyer or businessman, those are the realistic paths of life, aren't they?"

"S… Shishido-san…" Ootori stammered, completely lost. Shishido glared into his defenceless face, until the anger finally seemed to die down.

"Sorry, Choutarou. I shouldn't be taking it out on you." Taking back the crumpled piece of paper in Ootori's shaking hands, Shishido patted his partner's shoulder. "It's great, that you won't have to go through this in another year. Anyway, let's just work on how to beat Seigaku next week first, ok?"

"Y… Yeah." Ootori gave a feeble smile, but Shishido had already walked out of the club room, expressions blank.


End file.
